Video coding method and device, video decoding method and device

ABSTRACT

Provided are image decoding/encoding methods and apparatuses for increasing coding efficiency and reducing complexity while using a flexible tree split. The image decoding method includes: obtaining, from a bitstream, a bin string corresponding to a split shape mode of a coding unit; determining a split rule of the coding unit; and splitting the coding unit into a plurality of coding units, based on at least one of the split rule and the bin string corresponding to the split shape mode, wherein the determining of the split rule includes: determining an allowable first range of a size of the coding unit according to a ratio of a width and a height of the coding unit; and determining an allowable second range of the size of the coding unit according to the split shape mode of the coding unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/622,043 filed Dec. 12, 2019, which is a NationalStage of International Application No. PCT/KR2018/003760 filed on Mar.30, 2018, which claims priority to Provisional U.S. Application No.62/529,163 filed on Jul. 6, 2017, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein in their entireties by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

A method and apparatus according to an embodiment may encode or decodean image by using various shapes of coding units included in an image.

BACKGROUND ART

With the development and supply of hardware capable of reproducing andstoring high resolution or high quality image content, the need for acodec capable of effectively encoding or decoding such high resolutionor high quality image content has increased. The encoded image contentmay be reproduced by being decoded. Recently, methods of effectivelycompressing such high resolution or high quality image content have beenimplemented. For example, an efficient image compression method isimplemented through a process of arbitrarily processing an image to beencoded.

In order to compress an image, various data units may be used and aninclusion relationship may be present between the data units. A dataunit may be split according to various methods to determine a size of adata unit used for image compression, and the image may be encoded ordecoded by determining an optimized data unit according tocharacteristics of the image.

The data unit may be determined by recursively performing a flexibletree split. The flexible tree split may include a binary split, a trisplit, or a quad split. Also, the data unit optimized for coding may bedetermined according to the characteristics of the image by allowing asquare data unit and a non-square data unit. However, complexity ofcoding may be increased because various split shapes and various shapesof data units are used. Thus, image decoding/coding methods andapparatuses for increasing a coding efficiency and reducing thecomplexity while using the flexible tree split are required.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Solution to Problem

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, an image decoding methodincludes: obtaining, from a bitstream, a bin string corresponding to asplit shape mode of a coding unit; determining a split rule of thecoding unit; and splitting the coding unit into a plurality of codingunits, based on at least one of the split rule and the bin stringcorresponding to the split shape mode. The determining of the split ruleincludes: determining an allowable first range of a size of the codingunit according to a ratio of a width and a height of the coding unit;and determining an allowable second range of the size of the coding unitaccording to the split shape mode of the coding unit.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the split rule may bedetermined based on information obtained from the bitstream.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the split shape mode mayinclude at least one of a binary split, a tri split, or a quad split.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the splitting of thecoding unit into the plurality of coding units may include:quad-splitting a largest coding unit into a coding unit of a first sizewithout the bin string corresponding to the split shape mode; andsplitting the coding unit of the first size into the plurality of codingunits, based on the split rule and the bin string corresponding to thesplit shape mode.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the split rule may bedetermined for each complexity level of an image.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the splitting of thecoding unit into the plurality of coding units may further include:obtaining a candidate split shape mode applicable to a current codingunit, based on the split rule; determining information about a splitshape mode of the current coding unit, based on at least one of thecandidate split shape mode, the bin string corresponding to the splitshape mode, and block shape information of the current coding unit; andsplitting the current coding unit based on the information about thesplit shape mode.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, an image decodingapparatus includes at least one processor, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to perform: obtaining, from a bitstream, a binstring corresponding to a split shape mode of a coding unit; determininga split rule of the coding unit; and splitting the coding unit into aplurality of coding units, based on at least one of the split rule andthe bin string corresponding to the split shape mode. The determining ofthe split rule includes: determining an allowable first range of a sizeof the coding unit according to a ratio of a width and a height of thecoding unit; and determining an allowable second range of the size ofthe coding unit according to the split shape mode of the coding unit.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, an image encoding methodincludes: determining a split rule of a coding unit; obtaining a binstring corresponding a split shape mode for splitting a coding unit intoa plurality of coding units, based on at least one of the split rule andinformation about a split shape mode of the coding unit; and generatinga bitstream by entropy-coding the bin string corresponding to the splitshape mode, wherein the determining of the split rule includes:determining an allowable first range of a size of the coding unitaccording to a ratio of a width and a height of the coding unit; anddetermining an allowable second range of the size of the coding unitaccording to the split shape mode of the coding unit.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image encoding methodmay further include generating the bitstream based on the split rule.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the split shape mode mayinclude at least one of a binary split, a tri split, or a quad split.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image encoding methodmay further include: quad-splitting a largest coding unit into a codingunit of a first size; and generating information about the split shapemode for splitting the coding unit of the first size into the pluralityof coding units, based on the split rule.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the split rule may bedetermined for each complexity level of an image.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the obtaining of the binstring corresponding to the split shape mode may further include:obtaining a candidate split shape mode applicable to a current codingunit, based on the split rule; obtaining information about a split shapemode of the current coding unit; and obtaining the bin stringcorresponding to the split shape mode, based on at least one of blockshape information of the current coding unit, the candidate split shapemode, and the information about the split shape mode.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, an image encodingapparatus includes: at least one processor, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to perform: determining a split rule of a codingunit; obtaining a bin string corresponding a split shape mode forsplitting a current coding unit into a plurality of coding units, basedon at least one of the split rule and information about a split shapemode of the coding unit; and generating a bitstream based on the binstring corresponding to the split shape mode, wherein the determining ofthe split rule includes: determining an allowable first range of a sizeof the coding unit according to a ratio of a width and a height of thecoding unit; and determining an allowable second range of the size ofthe coding unit according to the split shape mode of the coding unit.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a computer-readablerecording medium may have recorded thereon a computer program forperforming the image decoding method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an image decoding apparatus 100according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an image decoding method according to anembodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process, performed by an image decoding apparatus,of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a current codingunit, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a process, performed by an image decoding apparatus,of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a non-square codingunit, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a process, performed by an image decoding apparatus,of splitting a coding unit based on at least one of block shapeinformation and split shape information, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method, performed by an image decoding apparatus,of determining a predetermined coding unit from among an odd number ofcoding units, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates an order of processing a plurality of coding unitswhen an image decoding apparatus determines the plurality of codingunits by splitting a current coding unit, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process, performed by an image decoding apparatus,of determining that a current coding unit is to be split into an oddnumber of coding units, when the coding units are not processable in apredetermined order, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process, performed by an image decoding apparatus,of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a first codingunit, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates that a shape into which a second coding unit issplittable is restricted when the second coding unit having a non-squareshape, which is determined when an image decoding apparatus splits afirst coding unit, satisfies a predetermined condition, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a process, performed by an image decoding apparatus,of splitting a square coding unit when information about a split shapemode is unable to indicate that the square coding unit is split intofour square coding units, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates that a processing order between a plurality ofcoding units may be changed depending on a process of splitting a codingunit, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process of determining a depth of a coding unit asa shape and size of the coding unit change, when the coding unit isrecursively split such that a plurality of coding units are determined,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates depths that are determinable based on shapes andsizes of coding units, and part indexes (PIDs) that are fordistinguishing the coding units, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates that a plurality of coding units are determinedbased on a plurality of predetermined data units included in a picture,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates a processing block serving as a criterion fordetermining a determination order of reference coding units included ina picture, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for describing block shape information according toan embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for describing block shape information according toan embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for describing a process of determining a contextmodel according to block shape information, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for describing a method of determining a contextmodel, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for describing a method of determining a contextmodel, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of an image encoding apparatusaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of an image encoding method according to anembodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for describing a method of splitting a currentcoding unit, according to an embodiment.

MODE OF DISCLOSURE

Advantages and features of one or more embodiments and methods ofaccomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference tothe embodiments and the accompanying drawings. In this regard, theembodiments of the disclosure may have different forms and should not beconstrued as being limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete and will fully convey the concept of the presentembodiments of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art.

The terms used in the specification will be briefly defined, and theembodiments will be described in detail.

All terms including descriptive or technical terms which are used hereinshould be construed as having meanings that are obvious to one ofordinary skill in the art. However, the terms may have differentmeanings according to the intention of one of ordinary skill in the art,precedent cases, or the appearance of new technologies. Also, some termsmay be arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, themeaning of the selected terms will be described in detail in thedetailed description of the disclosure. Thus, the terms used herein haveto be defined based on the meaning of the terms together with thedescription throughout the specification.

In the following specification, the singular forms include plural formsunless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

When a part “includes” or “comprises” an element, unless there is aparticular description contrary thereto, the part may further includeother elements, not excluding the other elements.

In the following description, terms such as “unit” indicate a softwareor hardware component and the “unit” performs certain functions.However, the “unit” is not limited to software or hardware. The “unit”may be formed so as to be in an addressable storage medium, or may beformed so as to operate one or more processors. Thus, for example, theterm “unit” may refer to components such as software components,object-oriented software components, class components, and taskcomponents, and may include processes, functions, attributes,procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware,micro codes, circuits, data, a database, data structures, tables,arrays, or variables. A function provided by the components and “units”may be associated with the smaller number of components and “units”, ormay be divided into additional components and “units”.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the “unit” may include aprocessor and a memory. The term “processor” should be interpretedbroadly to include a general purpose processor, a central processingunit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), acontroller, a microcontroller, a state machine, and the like. In somecircumstances, the “processor” may refer to an application specificsemiconductor (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), or the like. The term “processor” mayrefer to a combination of processing devices such as, for example, acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a combination of a pluralityof microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors inconjunction with a DSP core, or a combination of any other suchconfiguration.

The term “memory” should be interpreted broadly to include anyelectronic component capable of storing electronic information. The term“memory” may refer to various types of processor-readable media, such asa random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a non-volatilerandom access memory (NVRAM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), anerase-programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasablePROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, a magnetic or optical data storagedevice, a register, and the like. When the processor can readinformation from a memory and/or write information to the memory, thememory is said to be in an electronic communication state with theprocessor. The memory integrated in the processor is in an electroniccommunication state with the processor.

Hereinafter, an “image” may be a static image such as a still image of avideo or may be a dynamic image such as a moving image, that is, thevideo itself.

Hereinafter, a “sample” denotes data assigned to a sampling position ofan image, i.e., data to be processed. For example, pixel values of animage in a spatial domain and transform coefficients on a transformdomain may be samples. A unit including at least one such sample may bedefined as a block.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings such that one of ordinary skill in the art mayeasily implement the embodiments. In the drawings, parts irrelevant tothe description are omitted to clearly describe the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, an image encoding apparatus and an image decodingapparatus, and an image encoding method and an image decoding methodaccording to embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 1through 24 . A method of determining a data unit of an image, accordingto an embodiment, will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 through 16, and an encoding or decoding method and apparatus for adaptivelyselecting a context model, based on various shapes of coding unit,according to an embodiment, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1,2, and 17 through 24 .

Hereinafter, the method and apparatus for adaptively selecting a contextmodel, based on various shapes of coding unit, according to anembodiment of the disclosure, will be described with reference to FIGS.1 and 2 .

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an image decoding apparatus 100according to an embodiment.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may include a receiver 110 and adecoder 120. The receiver 110 and the decoder 120 may include at leastone processor. Also, the receiver 110 and the decoder 120 may include amemory storing instructions to be performed by the at least oneprocessor.

The receiver 110 may receive a bitstream. The bitstream includesinformation of an image encoded by an image encoding apparatus 2200described later. Also, the bitstream may be transmitted from the imageencoding apparatus 2200. The image encoding apparatus 2200 and the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may be connected via wires or wirelessly, and thereceiver 110 may receive the bitstream via wires or wirelessly. Thereceiver 110 may receive the bitstream from a storage medium, such as anoptical medium or a hard disk. The decoder 120 may reconstruct an imagebased on information obtained from the received bitstream. The decoder120 may obtain, from the bitstream, a syntax element for reconstructingthe image. The decoder 120 may reconstruct the image based on the syntaxelement.

Operations of the image decoding apparatus 100 will be described indetail with reference to FIG. 2 .

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an image decoding method according to anembodiment.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the receiver 110 receivesa bitstream.

The image decoding apparatus 100 obtains, from a bitstream, a bin stringcorresponding to a split shape mode of a coding unit (operation 210).The image decoding apparatus 100 determines a split rule of the codingunit (operation 220). Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 splits thecoding unit into a plurality of coding units, based on at least one ofthe split rule and the bin string corresponding to the split shape mode.The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowable first rangeof a size of the coding unit, according to a ratio of the width and theheight of the coding unit, so as to determine the split rule. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowable second range of thesize of the coding unit, according to the split shape mode of the codingunit, so as to determine the split rule.

Hereinafter, splitting of a coding unit will be described in detailaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

The image may be split into largest coding units. The size of thelargest coding unit may be determined based on information obtained fromthe bitstream. The shapes of the largest coding units may be squares ofthe same sizes. However, an embodiment is not limited thereto. Also, thelargest coding unit may be hierarchically split into coding units, basedon information about the split shape mode obtained from the bitstream.The information about the split shape mode may include at least one ofinformation indicating whether to perform splitting, split directioninformation, and split type information. The information indicatingwhether to perform splitting indicates whether to split a coding unit.The split direction information indicates a split into one of ahorizontal direction or a vertical direction. The split type informationindicates that a coding unit is split via one of a binary split, a trisplit, or a quad split.

For example, the information (split_mode) about the split shape mode mayindicate that a current coding unit is not split (NO_SPLIT). Also, theinformation about the split shape mode may include a quad split(QUAD_SPLIT). Also, the information about the split shape mode mayindicate a binary vertical split (BI_VER_SPLIT). Also, the informationabout the split shape mode may indicate a binary vertical split(BI_VER_SPLIT). Also, the information about the split shape mode mayindicate a binary horizontal split (BI_HOR_SPLIT). Also, the informationabout the split shape mode may indicate a tri vertical split(TRI_VER_SPLIT). Also, the information about the split shape mode mayindicate a tri horizontal split (TRI_HOR_SPLIT).

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain, from the bitstream, theinformation about the split shape mode as one bin string. A form of thebitstream received by the image decoding apparatus 100 may include fixedlength binary code, unary code, truncated unary code, pre-determinedbinary code, or the like. The bin string is information in a binarynumber. The bin string may include at least one bit. The image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain the information about the split shape modecorresponding to the bin string, based on the split rule. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine whether to split a coding unit, asplit direction, and a split type, based on one bin string.

The coding unit may be smaller than or same as the largest coding unit.For example, when the information about the split shape mode indicatesnot to perform splitting, the coding unit has the same size as thelargest coding unit. When the information about the split shape modeindicates to perform splitting, the largest coding unit may be splitinto coding units. Also, when the information about the split shape modeof the coding unit indicates to perform splitting, the coding unit maybe split into smaller coding units. However, the splitting of the imageis not limited thereto, and the largest coding unit and the coding unitmay not be distinguished. The splitting of the coding unit will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 through 16 .

The coding unit may be split into a prediction unit for prediction ofthe image. The prediction unit may be the same as or smaller than thecoding unit. Also, the coding unit may be split into a transform unitfor transform of the image. The transform unit may be the same as orsmaller than the coding unit. The shapes and sizes of the transform unitand prediction unit may not be related to each other. The coding unitmay be distinguished from the prediction unit and the transform unit,but the coding unit, the prediction unit, and the transform unit may bethe same. Splitting of the prediction unit and transform unit may beperformed in the same manner as the splitting of the coding unit. Thesplitting of the coding unit will be described in detail with referenceto FIGS. 3 through 16 . A current block and a peripheral block of thedisclosure may indicate one of the largest coding unit, the coding unit,the prediction unit, and the transform unit. Also, the current block ofthe current coding unit is a block that is currently being decoded orencoded or a block that is currently being split. The peripheral blockmay be a block reconstructed before the current block. The peripheralblock may be adjacent to the current block spatially or temporally. Theperipheral block may be located at one of the bottom left, left, topleft, top, top right, right, bottom right of the current block.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus100, of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a currentcoding unit, according to an embodiment.

A block shape may include 4N×4N, 4N×2N, 2N×4N, 4N×N, or N×4N. Here, Nmay be a positive integer. Block shape information is informationindicating at least one of a shape, direction, a ratio of width andheight, or size of a coding unit.

The shape of the coding unit may include a square and a non-square. Whenthe lengths of the width and height of the coding unit are the same(i.e., when the block shape of the coding unit is 4N×4N), the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the block shape information of thecoding unit as a square. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe shape of the coding unit to be a non-square.

When the lengths of the width and height of the coding unit aredifferent (i.e., when the block shape of the coding unit is 4N×2N,2N×4N, 4N×N, or N×4N), the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe block shape information of the coding unit as a non-square. When theshape of the coding unit is non-square, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine the ratio of the width and height among the block shapeinformation of the coding unit to be at least one of 1:2, 2:1, 1:4, 4:1,1:8, or 8:1. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinewhether the coding unit is in a horizontal direction or a verticaldirection, based on the length of the width and the length of the heightof the coding unit. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe size of the coding unit, based on at least one of the length of thewidth, the length of the height, or the area of the coding unit.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the shape of the coding unit by using the block shapeinformation, and may determine a splitting method of the coding unit byusing the information about the split shape mode. That is, a coding unitsplitting method indicated by the information indicating the split shapemode may be determined based on a block shape indicated by the blockshape information used by the image decoding apparatus 100.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the information about thesplit shape mode from a bitstream. However, an embodiment is not limitedthereto, and the image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encodingapparatus 2200 may determine information about a pre-agreed split shapemode, based on the block shape information. The image decoding apparatus100 may determine the information about the pre-agreed split shape modewith respect to a largest coding unit or a smallest coding unit. Forexample, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine informationabout a split shape mode with respect to the largest coding unit to be aquad split. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determineinformation about a split shape mode regarding the smallest coding unitto be “not to perform splitting”. In particular, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the size of the largest coding unit to be256×256. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the informationabout the pre-agreed split shape mode to be a quad split. The quad splitis a split shape mode in which the width and the height of the codingunit are both bisected. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain acoding unit of a 128×128 size from the largest coding unit of a 256×256size, based on the information about the split shape mode. Also, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the size of the smallestcoding unit to be 4×4. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtaininformation about a split shape mode indicating “not to performsplitting” with respect to the smallest coding unit.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may use theblock shape information indicating that the current coding unit has asquare shape. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine whether not to split a square coding unit, whether tovertically split the square coding unit, whether to horizontally splitthe square coding unit, or whether to split the square coding unit intofour coding units, based on the information about the split shape mode.Referring to FIG. 3 , when the block shape information of a currentcoding unit 300 indicates a square shape, the decoder 120 may determinethat a coding unit 310 a having the same size as the current coding unit300 is not split, based on the information about the split shape modeindicating not to perform splitting, or may determine coding units 310b, 310 c, or 310 d split based on the information about the split shapemode indicating a predetermined splitting method.

Referring to FIG. 3 , according to an embodiment, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine two coding units 310 b obtained by splittingthe current coding unit 300 in a vertical direction, based on theinformation about the split shape mode indicating to perform splittingin a vertical direction. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determinetwo coding units 310 c obtained by splitting the current coding unit 300in a horizontal direction, based on the information about the splitshape mode indicating to perform splitting in a horizontal direction.The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine four coding units 310 dobtained by splitting the current coding unit 300 in vertical andhorizontal directions, based on the information about the split shapemode indicating to perform splitting in vertical and horizontaldirections. However, splitting methods of the square coding unit are notlimited to the above-described methods, and the information about thesplit shape mode may indicate various methods. Predetermined splittingmethods of splitting the square coding unit will be described in detailbelow in relation to various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus100, of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a non-squarecoding unit, according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may useblock shape information indicating that a current coding unit has anon-square shape. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine whethernot to split the non-square current coding unit or whether to split thenon-square current coding unit by using a predetermined splittingmethod, based on information about a split shape mode. Referring to FIG.4 , when the block shape information of a current coding unit 400 or 450indicates a non-square shape, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine that a coding unit 410 or 460 having the same size as thecurrent coding unit 400 or 450 is not split, based on the informationabout the split shape mode indicating not to perform splitting, ordetermine coding units 420 a and 420 b, 430 a to 430 c, 470 a and 470 b,or 480 a to 480 c split based on the information about the split shapemode indicating a predetermined splitting method. Predeterminedsplitting methods of splitting a non-square coding unit will bedescribed in detail below in relation to various embodiments.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine a splitting method of a coding unit by using the informationabout the split shape mode and, in this case, the information about thesplit shape mode may indicate the number of one or more coding unitsgenerated by splitting a coding unit. Referring to FIG. 4 , when theinformation about the split shape mode indicates to split the currentcoding unit 400 or 450 into two coding units, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine two coding units 420 a and 420 b, or 470 aand 470 b included in the current coding unit 400 or 450, by splittingthe current coding unit 400 or 450 based on the information about thesplit shape mode.

According to an embodiment, when the image decoding apparatus 100 splitsthe non-square current coding unit 400 or 450 based on the informationabout the split shape mode, the image decoding apparatus 100 mayconsider the location of a long side of the non-square current codingunit 400 or 450 to split a current coding unit. For example, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine a plurality of coding units bysplitting a long side of the current coding unit 400 or 450, inconsideration of the shape of the current coding unit 400 or 450.

According to an embodiment, when the information about the split shapemode indicates to split a coding unit into the odd number of blocks (trisplit), the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the odd number ofcoding units included in the current coding unit 400 or 450. Forexample, when the information about the split shape mode indicates tosplit the current coding unit 400 or 450 into three coding units, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may split the current coding unit 400 or450 into three coding units 430 a, 430 b, and 430 c, or 480 a, 480 b,and 480 c.

According to an embodiment, a ratio of the width and height of thecurrent coding unit 400 or 450 may be 4:1 or 1:4. When the ratio of thewidth and height is 4:1, the block shape information may be a horizontaldirection because the length of the width is longer than the length ofthe height. When the ratio of the width and height is 1:4, the blockshape information may be a vertical direction because the length of thewidth is shorter than the length of the height. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to split a current coding unit into the oddnumber of blocks, based on the information about the split shape mode.Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine a split directionof the current coding unit 400 or 450, based on the block shapeinformation of the current coding unit 400 or 450. For example, when thecurrent coding unit 400 is in the vertical direction, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the coding units 430 a to 430 c by splittingthe current coding unit 400 in the horizontal direction. Also, when thecurrent coding unit 450 is in the horizontal direction, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the coding units 480 a to 480 c bysplitting the current coding unit 450 in the vertical direction.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the odd number of coding units included in the current codingunit 400 or 450, and not all the determined coding units may have thesame size. For example, a predetermined coding unit 430 b or 480 b fromamong the determined odd number of coding units 430 a, 430 b, and 430 c,or 480 a, 480 b, and 480 c may have a size different from the size ofthe other coding units 430 a and 430 c, or 480 a and 480 c. That is,coding units which may be determined by splitting the current codingunit 400 or 450 may have multiple sizes and, in some cases, all of theodd number of coding units 430 a, 430 b, and 430 c, or 480 a, 480 b, and480 c may have different sizes.

According to an embodiment, when the information about the split shapemode indicates to split a coding unit into the odd number of blocks, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the odd number of codingunits included in the current coding unit 400 or 450, and in addition,may put a predetermined restriction on at least one coding unit fromamong the odd number of coding units generated by splitting the currentcoding unit 400 or 450. Referring to FIG. 4 , the image decodingapparatus 100 may set a decoding process regarding the coding unit 430 bor 480 b located at the center among the three coding units 430 a, 430b, and 430 c or 480 a, 480 b, and 480 c generated as the current codingunit 400 or 450 is split to be different from that of the other codingunits 430 a and 430 c, or 480 a or 480 c. For example, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may restrict the coding unit 430 b or 480 b atthe center location to be no longer split or to be split only apredetermined number of times, unlike the other coding units 430 a and430 c, or 480 a and 480 c.

FIG. 5 illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus100, of splitting a coding unit based on at least one of block shapeinformation and information about a split shape mode, according to anembodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine to split or not to split a square first coding unit 500 intocoding units, based on at least one of the block shape information andthe information about the split shape mode. According to an embodiment,when the information about the split shape mode indicates to split thefirst coding unit 500 in a horizontal direction, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine a second coding unit 510 by splitting thefirst coding unit 500 in a horizontal direction. A first coding unit, asecond coding unit, and a third coding unit used according to anembodiment are terms used to understand a relation before and aftersplitting a coding unit. For example, a second coding unit may bedetermined by splitting a first coding unit, and a third coding unit maybe determined by splitting the second coding unit. It will be understoodthat the structure of the first coding unit, the second coding unit, andthe third coding unit follows the above descriptions.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine to split or not to split the determined second coding unit 510into coding units, based on at least one of the block shape informationand the information about the split shape mode. Referring to FIG. 5 ,the image decoding apparatus 100 may or may not split the non-squaresecond coding unit 510, which is determined by splitting the firstcoding unit 500, into one or more third coding units 520 a, or 520 b,520 c, and 520 d based on at least one of the block shape informationand the information about the split shape mode. The image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain at least one of the block shape information andthe information about the split shape mode, and determine a plurality ofvarious-shaped second coding units (e.g., 510) by splitting the firstcoding unit 500, based on the obtained at least one of the block shapeinformation and the information about the split shape mode, and thesecond coding unit 510 may be split by using the splitting method of thefirst coding unit 500, based on at least one of the block shapeinformation and the information about the split shape mode. According toan embodiment, when the first coding unit 500 is split into the secondcoding units 510 based on at least one of the block shape informationand the information about the split shape mode of the first coding unit500, the second coding unit 510 may also be split into the third codingunits 520 a, or 520 b, 520 c, and 520 d based on at least one of theblock shape information and the information about the split shape modeof the second coding unit 510. That is, a coding unit may be recursivelysplit based on at least one of the block shape information and theinformation about the split shape mode of each coding unit. Therefore, asquare coding unit may be determined by splitting a non-square codingunit, and a non-square coding unit may be determined by recursivelysplitting the square coding unit.

Referring to FIG. 5 , a predetermined coding unit from among the oddnumber of third coding units 520 b, 520 c, and 520 d determined bysplitting the non-square second coding unit 510 (e.g., a coding unit ata center location or a square coding unit) may be recursively split.According to an embodiment, the square third coding unit 520 b fromamong the odd number of third coding units 520 b, 520 c, and 520 d maybe split in a horizontal direction into a plurality of fourth codingunits. A non-square fourth coding unit 530 b or 530 d from among aplurality of fourth coding units 530 a, 530 b, 530 c, and 530 d may besplit into a plurality of coding units again. For example, thenon-square fourth coding unit 530 b or 530 d may be split into the oddnumber of coding units again. A method that may be used to recursivelysplit a coding unit will be described below in relation to variousembodiments.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may splitthe third coding unit 520 a, 520 b, 520 c, or 520 d into coding units,based on the block shape information and the information about the splitshape mode. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine not tosplit the second coding unit 510, based on at least one of the blockshape information and the information about the split shape mode.According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may splitthe non-square second coding unit 510 into the odd number of thirdcoding units 520 b, 520 c, and 520 d. The image decoding apparatus 100may put a predetermined restriction on a predetermined third coding unitfrom among the odd number of third coding units 520 b, 520 c, and 520 d.For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may restrict the thirdcoding unit 520 c at a center location from among the odd number ofthird coding units 520 b, 520 c, and 520 d to be no longer split or tobe split a settable number of times.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may restrict thethird coding unit 520 c, which is at the center location from among theodd number of third coding units 520 b, 520 c, and 520 d included in thenon-square second coding unit 510, to be no longer split, to be split byusing a predetermined splitting method (e.g., split into only fourcoding units or split by using a splitting method of the second codingunit 510), or to be split only a predetermined number of times (e.g.,split only n times (where n>0)). However, the restrictions on the thirdcoding unit 520 c at the center location are not limited to theabove-described examples, and may include various restrictions fordecoding the third coding unit 520 c at the center location differentlyfrom the other third coding units 520 b and 520 d.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtainat least one of the block shape information and the information aboutthe split shape mode, which is used to split a current coding unit, froma predetermined location in the current coding unit.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method, performed by the image decoding apparatus100, of determining a predetermined coding unit from among an odd numberof coding units, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6 , at least one of block shape information andinformation about a split shape mode of a current coding unit 600 or 650may be obtained from a sample of a predetermined location from among aplurality of samples included in the current coding unit 600 or 650(e.g., a sample 640 or 690 of a center location). However, thepredetermined location in the current coding unit 600, from which atleast one of the block shape information and the information about thesplit shape mode may be obtained, is not limited to the center locationin FIG. 6 , and may include various locations included in the currentcoding unit 600 (e.g., top, bottom, left, right, top left, bottom left,top right, and bottom right locations). The image decoding apparatus 100may obtain at least one of the block shape information and theinformation about the split shape mode from the predetermined locationand determine to split or not to split the current coding unit intovarious-shaped and various-sized coding units.

According to an embodiment, when the current coding unit is split into apredetermined number of coding units, the image decoding apparatus 100may select one of the coding units. Various methods may be used toselect one of a plurality of coding units, as will be described below inrelation to various embodiments.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may splitthe current coding unit into a plurality of coding units, and maydetermine a coding unit at a predetermined location.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may useinformation indicating locations of the odd number of coding units, todetermine a coding unit at a center location from among the odd numberof coding units. Referring to FIG. 6 , the image decoding apparatus 100may determine the odd number of coding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c orthe odd number of coding units 660 a, 660 b, and 660 c by splitting thecurrent coding unit 600 or the current coding unit 650. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the middle coding unit 620 b or themiddle coding unit 660 b by using information about the locations of theodd number of coding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c or the odd number ofcoding units 660 a, 660 b, and 660 c. For example, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the coding unit 620 b of the center locationby determining the locations of the coding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 cbased on information indicating locations of predetermined samplesincluded in the coding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c. In detail, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the coding unit 620 b at thecenter location by determining the locations of the coding units 620 a,620 b, and 620 c based on information indicating locations of top leftsamples 630 a, 630 b, and 630 c of the coding units 620 a, 620 b, and620 c.

According to an embodiment, the information indicating the locations ofthe top left samples 630 a, 630 b, and 630 c, which are included in thecoding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c, respectively, may includeinformation about locations or coordinates of the coding units 620 a,620 b, and 620 c in a picture. According to an embodiment, theinformation indicating the locations of the top left samples 630 a, 630b, and 630 c, which are included in the coding units 620 a, 620 b, and620 c, respectively, may include information indicating widths orheights of the coding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c included in thecurrent coding unit 600, and the widths or heights may correspond toinformation indicating differences between the coordinates of the codingunits 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c in the picture. That is, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the coding unit 620 b at the centerlocation by directly using the information about the locations orcoordinates of the coding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c in the picture,or by using the information about the widths or heights of the codingunits, which correspond to the difference values between thecoordinates.

According to an embodiment, information indicating the location of thetop left sample 630 a of the upper coding unit 620 a may includecoordinates (xa, ya), information indicating the location of the topleft sample 630 b of the middle coding unit 620 b may includecoordinates (xb, yb), and information indicating the location of the topleft sample 630 c of the lower coding unit 620 c may include coordinates(xc, yc). The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the middlecoding unit 620 b by using the coordinates of the top left samples 630a, 630 b, and 630 c which are included in the coding units 620 a, 620 b,and 620 c, respectively. For example, when the coordinates of the topleft samples 630 a, 630 b, and 630 c are sorted in an ascending ordescending order, the coding unit 620 b including the coordinates (xb,yb) of the sample 630 b at a center location may be determined as acoding unit at a center location from among the coding units 620 a, 620b, and 620 c determined by splitting the current coding unit 600.However, the coordinates indicating the locations of the top leftsamples 630 a, 630 b, and 630 c may include coordinates indicatingabsolute locations in the picture, or may use coordinates (dxb, dyb)indicating a relative location of the top left sample 630 b of themiddle coding unit 620 b and coordinates (dxc, dyc) indicating arelative location of the top left sample 630 c of the lower coding unit620 c with reference to the location of the top left sample 630 a of theupper coding unit 620 a. A method of determining a coding unit at apredetermined location by using coordinates of a sample included in thecoding unit, as information indicating a location of the sample, is notlimited to the above-described method, and may include variousarithmetic methods capable of using the coordinates of the sample.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may splitthe current coding unit 600 into a plurality of coding units 620 a, 620b, and 620 c, and may select one of the coding units 620 a, 620 b, and620 c based on a predetermined criterion. For example, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may select the coding unit 620 b, which has asize different from that of the others, from among the coding units 620a, 620 b, and 620 c.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the width or height of each of the coding units 620 a, 620 b,and 620 c by using the coordinates (xa, ya) that is the informationindicating the location of the top left sample 630 a of the upper codingunit 620 a, the coordinates (xb, yb) that is the information indicatingthe location of the top left sample 630 b of the middle coding unit 620b, and the coordinates (xc, yc) that is the information indicating thelocation of the top left sample 630 c of the lower coding unit 620 c.The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the respective sizes ofthe coding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c by using the coordinates (xa,ya), (xb, yb), and (xc, yc) indicating the locations of the coding units620 a, 620 b, and 620 c. According to an embodiment, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the width of the upper coding unit 620 a tobe the width of the current coding unit 600. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the height of the upper coding unit 620 a tobe yb-ya. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine the width of the middle coding unit 620 b to be the widthof the current coding unit 600. The image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the height of the middle coding unit 620 b to be yc-yb.According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the width or height of the lower coding unit 620 c by usingthe width or height of the current coding unit 600 or the widths orheights of the upper and middle coding units 620 a and 620 b. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine a coding unit, which has a sizedifferent from that of the others, based on the determined widths andheights of the coding units 620 a to 620 c. Referring to FIG. 6 , theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the middle coding unit 620 b,which has a size different from the size of the upper and lower codingunits 620 a and 620 c, as the coding unit of the predetermined location.However, the above-described method, performed by the image decodingapparatus 100, of determining a coding unit having a size different fromthe size of the other coding units merely corresponds to an example ofdetermining a coding unit at a predetermined location by using the sizesof coding units, which are determined based on coordinates of samples,and thus various methods of determining a coding unit at a predeterminedlocation by comparing the sizes of coding units, which are determinedbased on coordinates of predetermined samples, may be used.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the width or height ofeach of the coding units 660 a, 660 b, and 660 c by using thecoordinates (xd, yd) that is information indicating the location of atop left sample 670 a of the left coding unit 660 a, the coordinates(xe, ye) that is information indicating the location of a top leftsample 670 b of the middle coding unit 660 b, and the coordinates (xf,yf) that is information indicating a location of the top left sample 670c of the right coding unit 660 c. The image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the respective sizes of the coding units 660 a, 660 b, and 660c by using the coordinates (xd, yd), (xe, ye), and (xf, yf) indicatingthe locations of the coding units 660 a, 660 b, and 660 c.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the width of the left coding unit 660 a to be xe-xd. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the height of the left coding unit660 a to be the height of the current coding unit 650. According to anembodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the width ofthe middle coding unit 660 b to be xf-xe. The image decoding apparatus100 may determine the height of the middle coding unit 660 b to be theheight of the current coding unit 600. According to an embodiment, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the width or height of theright coding unit 660 c by using the width or height of the currentcoding unit 650 or the widths or heights of the left and middle codingunits 660 a and 660 b. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine acoding unit, which has a size different from that of the others, basedon the determined widths and heights of the coding units 660 a to 660 c.Referring to FIG. 6 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine themiddle coding unit 660 b, which has a size different from the sizes ofthe left and right coding units 660 a and 660 c, as the coding unit ofthe predetermined location. However, the above-described method,performed by the image decoding apparatus 100, of determining a codingunit having a size different from the size of the other coding unitsmerely corresponds to an example of determining a coding unit at apredetermined location by using the sizes of coding units, which aredetermined based on coordinates of samples, and thus various methods ofdetermining a coding unit at a predetermined location by comparing thesizes of coding units, which are determined based on coordinates ofpredetermined samples, may be used.

However, locations of samples considered to determine locations ofcoding units are not limited to the above-described top left locations,and information about arbitrary locations of samples included in thecoding units may be used.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may selecta coding unit at a predetermined location from among an odd number ofcoding units determined by splitting the current coding unit,considering the shape of the current coding unit. For example, when thecurrent coding unit has a non-square shape, a width of which is longerthan a height, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the codingunit at the predetermined location in a horizontal direction. That is,the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine one of coding units atdifferent locations in a horizontal direction and put a restriction onthe coding unit. When the current coding unit has a non-square shape, aheight of which is longer than a width, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine the coding unit at the predetermined location in avertical direction. That is, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine one of coding units at different locations in a verticaldirection and may put a restriction on the coding unit.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may useinformation indicating respective locations of an even number of codingunits, to determine the coding unit at the predetermined location fromamong the even number of coding units. The image decoding apparatus 100may determine the even number of coding units by splitting(binary-splitting) the current coding unit and determine the coding unitat the predetermined location by using information about the locationsof the even number of coding units. An operation related thereto maycorrespond to the operation of determining a coding unit at apredetermined location (e.g., a center location) from among an oddnumber of coding units, which has been described in detail above inrelation to FIG. 6 , and thus detailed descriptions thereof are notprovided here.

According to an embodiment, when a non-square current coding unit issplit into a plurality of coding units, predetermined information abouta coding unit at a predetermined location may be used in a splittingoperation to determine the coding unit at the predetermined locationfrom among the plurality of coding units. For example, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may use at least one of block shape informationand information about a split shape mode, which is stored in a sampleincluded in a middle coding unit, in a splitting operation to determinea coding unit at a center location from among the plurality of codingunits determined by splitting the current coding unit.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may split thecurrent coding unit 600 into a plurality of coding units 620 a, 620 b,and 620 c based on at least one of the block shape information and theinformation about the split shape mode, and may determine the codingunit 620 b at a center location from among the plurality of the codingunits 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c. Furthermore, the image decoding apparatus100 may determine the coding unit 620 b at the center location, inconsideration of a location from which at least one of the block shapeinformation and the information about the split shape mode is obtained.That is, at least one of the block shape information and the informationabout the split shape mode of the current coding unit 600 may beobtained from the sample 640 at a center location of the current codingunit 600 and, when the current coding unit 600 is split into theplurality of coding units 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c based on at least oneof the block shape information and the information about the split shapemode, the coding unit 620 b including the sample 640 may be determinedas the coding unit at the center location. However, information used todetermine the coding unit at the center location is not limited to atleast one of the block shape information and the information about thesplit shape mode, and various types of information may be used todetermine the coding unit at the center location.

According to an embodiment, predetermined information for identifyingthe coding unit at the predetermined location may be obtained from apredetermined sample included in a coding unit to be determined.Referring to FIG. 6 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may use at leastone of the block shape information and the information about the splitshape mode, which is obtained from a sample at a predetermined locationin the current coding unit 600 (e.g., a sample at a center location ofthe current coding unit 600) to determine a coding unit at apredetermined location from among the plurality of the coding units 620a, 620 b, and 620 c determined by splitting the current coding unit 600(e.g., a coding unit at a center location from among a plurality ofsplit coding units). That is, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the sample at the predetermined location by considering ablock shape of the current coding unit 600, determine the coding unit620 b including a sample, from which predetermined information (e.g., atleast one of the block shape information and the information about thesplit shape mode) may be obtained, from among the plurality of codingunits 620 a, 620 b, and 620 c determined by splitting the current codingunit 600, and may put a predetermined restriction on the coding unit 620b. Referring to FIG. 6 , according to an embodiment, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the sample 640 at the center location of thecurrent coding unit 600 as the sample from which the predeterminedinformation may be obtained, and may put a predetermined restriction onthe coding unit 620 b including the sample 640, in a decoding operation.However, the location of the sample from which the predeterminedinformation may be obtained is not limited to the above-describedlocation, and may include arbitrary locations of samples included in thecoding unit 620 b to be determined for a restriction.

According to an embodiment, the location of the sample from which thepredetermined information may be obtained may be determined based on theshape of the current coding unit 600. According to an embodiment, theblock shape information may indicate whether the current coding unit hasa square or non-square shape, and the location of the sample from whichthe predetermined information may be obtained may be determined based onthe shape. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine asample located on a boundary for splitting at least one of a width andheight of the current coding unit in half, as the sample from which thepredetermined information may be obtained, by using at least one ofinformation about the width of the current coding unit and informationabout the height of the current coding unit. As another example, whenthe block shape information of the current coding unit indicates anon-square shape, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine one ofsamples adjacent to a boundary for splitting a long side of the currentcoding unit in half, as the sample from which the predeterminedinformation may be obtained.

According to an embodiment, when the current coding unit is split into aplurality of coding units, the image decoding apparatus 100 may use atleast one of the block shape information and the information about thesplit shape mode to determine a coding unit at a predetermined locationfrom among the plurality of coding units. According to an embodiment,the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain at least one of the blockshape information and the information about the split shape mode from asample at a predetermined location in a coding unit, and split theplurality of coding units, which are generated by splitting the currentcoding unit, by using at least one of the information about the splitshape mode and the information about the split shape mode, which isobtained from the sample of the predetermined location in each of theplurality of coding units. That is, a coding unit may be recursivelysplit based on at least one of the block shape information and theinformation about the split shape mode, which is obtained from thesample at the predetermined location in each coding unit. An operationof recursively splitting a coding unit has been described above inrelation to FIG. 5 , and thus detailed descriptions thereof will not beprovided here.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine one or more coding units by splitting the current coding unit,and may determine an order of decoding the one or more coding units,based on a predetermined block (e.g., the current coding unit).

FIG. 7 illustrates an order of processing a plurality of coding unitswhen the image decoding apparatus 100 determines the plurality of codingunits by splitting a current coding unit, according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine second coding units 710 a and 710 b by splitting a firstcoding unit 700 in a vertical direction, determine second coding units730 a and 730 b by splitting the first coding unit 700 in a horizontaldirection, or determine second coding units 750 a to 750 d by splittingthe first coding unit 700 in vertical and horizontal directions, basedon block shape information and information about a split shape mode.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine toprocess the second coding units 710 a and 710 b, which are determined bysplitting the first coding unit 700 in a vertical direction, in ahorizontal direction order 710 c. The image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine to process the second coding units 730 a and 730 b, which aredetermined by splitting the first coding unit 700 in a horizontaldirection, in a vertical direction order 730 c. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to process the second coding units 750 a to750 d, which are determined by splitting the first coding unit 700 invertical and horizontal directions, in a predetermined order forprocessing coding units in a row and then processing coding units in anext row (e.g., in a raster scan order or Z-scan order 750 e).

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 mayrecursively split coding units. Referring to FIG. 7 , the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the plurality of coding units 710 a and 710b, 730 a and 730 b, or 750 a to 750 d by splitting the first coding unit700, and recursively split each of the determined plurality of codingunits 710 b, 730 a and 730 b, or 750 a to 750 d. A splitting method ofthe plurality of coding units 710 b, 730 a and 730 b, or 750 a to 750 dmay correspond to a splitting method of the first coding unit 700. Assuch, each of the plurality of coding units 710 b, 730 a and 730 b, or750 a to 750 d may be independently split into a plurality of codingunits. Referring to FIG. 7 , the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the second coding units 710 a and 710 b by splitting the firstcoding unit 700 in a vertical direction, and may determine toindependently split or not to split each of the second coding units 710a and 710 b.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine third coding units 720 a and 720 b by splitting the leftsecond coding unit 710 a in a horizontal direction, and may not splitthe right second coding unit 710 b.

According to an embodiment, a processing order of coding units may bedetermined based on an operation of splitting a coding unit. In otherwords, a processing order of split coding units may be determined basedon a processing order of coding units immediately before being split.The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine a processing order of thethird coding units 720 a and 720 b determined by splitting the leftsecond coding unit 710 a, independently of the right second coding unit710 b. Because the third coding units 720 a and 720 b are determined bysplitting the left second coding unit 710 a in a horizontal direction,the third coding units 720 a and 720 b may be processed in a verticaldirection order 720 c. Because the left and right second coding units710 a and 710 b are processed in the horizontal direction order 710 c,the right second coding unit 710 b may be processed after the thirdcoding units 720 a and 720 b included in the left second coding unit 710a are processed in the vertical direction order 720 c. An operation ofdetermining a processing order of coding units based on a coding unitbefore being split is not limited to the above-described example, andvarious methods may be used to independently process coding units, whichare split and determined to various shapes, in a predetermined order.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus100, of determining that a current coding unit is to be split into anodd number of coding units, when the coding units are not processable ina predetermined order, according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine whether the current coding unit is split into an odd number ofcoding units, based on obtained block shape information and informationabout a split shape mode. Referring to FIG. 8 , a square first codingunit 800 may be split into non-square second coding units 810 a and 810b, and the second coding units 810 a and 810 b may be independentlysplit into third coding units 820 a and 820 b, and 820 c to 820 e.According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the plurality of third coding units 820 a and 820 b bysplitting the left second coding unit 810 a in a horizontal direction,and may split the right second coding unit 810 b into the odd number ofthird coding units 820 c to 820 e.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine whether any coding unit is split into an odd number of codingunits, by determining whether the third coding units 820 a and 820 b,and 820 c to 820 e are processable in a predetermined order. Referringto FIG. 8 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the thirdcoding units 820 a and 820 b, and 820 c to 820 e by recursivelysplitting the first coding unit 800. The image decoding apparatus 100may determine whether any of the first coding unit 800, the secondcoding units 810 a and 810 b, and the third coding units 820 a and 820b, and 820 c to 820 e are split into an odd number of coding units,based on at least one of the block shape information and the informationabout the split shape mode. For example, the right second coding unit810 b among the second coding units 810 a and 810 b may be split into anodd number of third coding units 820 c, 820 d, and 820 e. A processingorder of a plurality of coding units included in the first coding unit800 may be a predetermined order (e.g., a Z-scan order 830), and theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine whether the third codingunits 820 c, 820 d, and 820 e, which are determined by splitting theright second coding unit 810 b into an odd number of coding units,satisfy a condition for processing in the predetermined order.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine whether the third coding units 820 a and 820 b, and 820 c to820 e included in the first coding unit 800 satisfy the condition forprocessing in the predetermined order, and the condition relates towhether at least one of a width and height of the second coding units810 a and 810 b is split in half along a boundary of the third codingunits 820 a and 820 b, and 820 c to 820 e. For example, the third codingunits 820 a and 820 b determined when the height of the left secondcoding unit 810 a of the non-square shape is split in half may satisfythe condition. It may be determined that the third coding units 820 c to820 e do not satisfy the condition because the boundaries of the thirdcoding units 820 c to 820 e determined when the right second coding unit810 b is split into three coding units are unable to split the width orheight of the right second coding unit 810 b in half. When the conditionis not satisfied as described above, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine disconnection of a scan order, and may determine that theright second coding unit 810 b is split into an odd number of codingunits, based on a result of the determination. According to anembodiment, when a coding unit is split into an odd number of codingunits, the image decoding apparatus 100 may put a predeterminedrestriction on a coding unit at a predetermined location from among thesplit coding units. The restriction or the predetermined location hasbeen described above in relation to various embodiments, and thusdetailed descriptions thereof will not be provided herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus100, of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a first codingunit 900, according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may splitthe first coding unit 900, based on at least one of block shapeinformation and information about a split shape mode, which is obtainedthrough the receiver 110. The square first coding unit 900 may be splitinto four square coding units, or may be split into a plurality ofnon-square coding units. For example, referring to FIG. 9 , when theblock shape information indicates that the first coding unit 900 has asquare shape and the information about the split shape mode indicates tosplit the first coding unit 900 into non-square coding units, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may split the first coding unit 900 into aplurality of non-square coding units. In detail, when the informationabout the split shape mode indicates to determine an odd number ofcoding units by splitting the first coding unit 900 in a horizontaldirection or a vertical direction, the image decoding apparatus 100 maysplit the square first coding unit 900 into an odd number of codingunits, e.g., second coding units 910 a, 910 b, and 910 c determined bysplitting the square first coding unit 900 in a vertical direction orsecond coding units 920 a, 920 b, and 920 c determined by splitting thesquare first coding unit 900 in a horizontal direction.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine whether the second coding units 910 a, 910 b, 910 c, 920 a,920 b, and 920 c included in the first coding unit 900 satisfy acondition for processing in a predetermined order, and the conditionrelates to whether at least one of a width and height of the firstcoding unit 900 is split in half along a boundary of the second codingunits 910 a, 910 b, 910 c, 920 a, 920 b, and 920 c. Referring to FIG. 9, because boundaries of the second coding units 910 a, 910 b, and 910 cdetermined by splitting the square first coding unit 900 in a verticaldirection do not split the width of the first coding unit 900 in half,it may be determined that the first coding unit 900 does not satisfy thecondition for processing in the predetermined order. In addition,because boundaries of the second coding units 920 a, 920 b, and 920 cdetermined by splitting the square first coding unit 900 in a horizontaldirection do not split the width of the first coding unit 900 in half,it may be determined that the first coding unit 900 does not satisfy thecondition for processing in the predetermined order. When the conditionis not satisfied as described above, the image decoding apparatus 100may decide disconnection of a scan order, and may determine that thefirst coding unit 900 is split into an odd number of coding units, basedon a result of the decision. According to an embodiment, when a codingunit is split into an odd number of coding units, the image decodingapparatus 100 may put a predetermined restriction on a coding unit at apredetermined location from among the split coding units. Therestriction or the predetermined location has been described above inrelation to various embodiments, and thus detailed descriptions thereofwill not be provided herein.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine various-shaped coding units by splitting a first coding unit.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may split thesquare first coding unit 900 or a non-square first coding unit 930 or950 into various-shaped coding units.

FIG. 10 illustrates that a shape into which a second coding unit issplittable is restricted when the second coding unit having a non-squareshape, which is determined when the image decoding apparatus 100 splitsa first coding unit 1000, satisfies a predetermined condition, accordingto an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine to split the square first coding unit 1000 into non-squaresecond coding units 1010 a and 1010 b or 1020 a and 1020 b, based on atleast one of block shape information and information about a split shapemode, which is obtained through the receiver 110. The second codingunits 1010 a and 1010 b or 1020 a and 1020 b may be independently split.As such, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine to split or notto split each of the second coding units 1010 a and 1010 b or 1020 a and1020 b into a plurality of coding units, based on at least one of theblock shape information and the information about the split shape modeof each of the second coding units 1010 a and 1010 b or 1020 a and 1020b. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine third coding units 1012 a and 1012 b by splitting thenon-square left second coding unit 1010 a, which is determined bysplitting the first coding unit 1000 in a vertical direction, in ahorizontal direction. However, when the left second coding unit 1010 ais split in a horizontal direction, the image decoding apparatus 100 mayrestrict the right second coding unit 1010 b to not be split in ahorizontal direction in which the left second coding unit 1010 a issplit. When third coding units 1014 a and 1014 b are determined bysplitting the right second coding unit 1010 b in a same direction,because the left and right second coding units 1010 a and 1010 b areindependently split in a horizontal direction, the third coding units1012 a and 1012 b or 1014 a and 1014 b may be determined. However, thiscase serves equally as a case in which the image decoding apparatus 100splits the first coding unit 1000 into four square second coding units1030 a, 1030 b, 1030 c, and 1030 d, based on at least one of the blockshape information and the information about the split shape mode, andmay be inefficient in terms of image decoding.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine third coding units 1022 a and 1022 b or 1024 a and 1024 b bysplitting the non-square second coding unit 1020 a or 1020 b, which isdetermined by splitting the first coding unit 1000 in a horizontaldirection, in a vertical direction. However, when a second coding unit(e.g., the upper second coding unit 1020 a) is split in a verticaldirection, for the above-described reason, the image decoding apparatus100 may restrict the other second coding unit (e.g., the lower secondcoding unit 1020 b) to not be split in a vertical direction in which theupper second coding unit 1020 a is split.

FIG. 11 illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus100, of splitting a square coding unit when information about a splitshape mode is unable to indicate that the square coding unit is splitinto four square coding units, according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine second coding units 1110 a and 1110 b or 1120 a and 1120 b,etc. by splitting a first coding unit 1100, based on at least one ofblock shape information and information about a split shape mode. Theinformation about a split shape mode may include information aboutvarious methods of splitting a coding unit but, the information aboutvarious splitting methods may not include information for splitting acoding unit into four square coding units. According to such informationabout the split shape mode, the image decoding apparatus 100 may notsplit the square first coding unit 1100 into four square second codingunits 1130 a, 1130 b, 1130 c, and 1130 d. The image decoding apparatus100 may determine the non-square second coding units 1110 a and 1110 bor 1120 a and 1120 b, etc., based on the information about the splitshape mode.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 mayindependently split the non-square second coding units 1110 a and 1110 bor 1120 a and 1120 b, etc. Each of the second coding units 1110 a and1110 b or 1120 a and 1120 b, etc. may be recursively split in apredetermined order, and this splitting method may correspond to amethod of splitting the first coding unit 1100, based on at least one ofthe block shape information and the information about the split shapemode.

For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine square thirdcoding units 1112 a and 1112 b by splitting the left second coding unit1110 a in a horizontal direction, and may determine square third codingunits 1114 a and 1114 b by splitting the right second coding unit 1110 bin a horizontal direction. Furthermore, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine square third coding units 1116 a, 1116 b, 1116 c, and 1116d by splitting both of the left and right second coding units 1110 a and1110 b in a horizontal direction. In this case, coding units having thesame shape as the four square second coding units 1130 a, 1130 b, 1130c, and 1130 d split from the first coding unit 1100 may be determined.

As another example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinesquare third coding units 1122 a and 1122 b by splitting the uppersecond coding unit 1120 a in a vertical direction, and may determinesquare third coding units 1124 a and 1124 b by splitting the lowersecond coding unit 1120 b in a vertical direction. Furthermore, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine square third coding units1126 a, 1126 b, 1126 c, and 1126 d by splitting both of the upper andlower second coding units 1120 a and 1120 b in a vertical direction. Inthis case, coding units having the same shape as the four square secondcoding units 1130 a, 1130 b, 1130 c, and 1130 d split from the firstcoding unit 1100 may be determined.

FIG. 12 illustrates that a processing order between a plurality ofcoding units may be changed depending on a process of splitting a codingunit, according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may split afirst coding unit 1200, based on block shape information and informationabout a split shape mode. When the block shape information indicates asquare shape and the information about the split shape mode indicates tosplit the first coding unit 1200 in at least one of horizontal andvertical directions, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinesecond coding units 1210 a and 1210 b or 1220 a and 1220 b, etc. bysplitting the first coding unit 1200. Referring to FIG. 12 , thenon-square second coding units 1210 a and 1210 b or 1220 a and 1220 bdetermined by splitting the first coding unit 1200 in only a horizontaldirection or vertical direction may be independently split based on theblock shape information and the information about the split shape modeof each coding unit. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine third coding units 1216 a, 1216 b, 1216 c, and 1216 d bysplitting the second coding units 1210 a and 1210 b, which are generatedby splitting the first coding unit 1200 in a vertical direction, in ahorizontal direction, and may determine third coding units 1226 a, 1226b, 1226 c, and 1226 d by splitting the second coding units 1220 a and1220 b, which are generated by splitting the first coding unit 1200 in ahorizontal direction, in a horizontal direction. An operation ofsplitting the second coding units 1210 a and 1210 b or 1220 a and 1220 bhas been described above in relation to FIG. 11 , and thus detaileddescriptions thereof will not be provided herein.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may processcoding units in a predetermined order. An operation of processing codingunits in a predetermined order has been described above in relation toFIG. 7 , and thus detailed descriptions thereof will not be providedherein. Referring to FIG. 12 , the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine four square third coding units 1216 a, 1216 b, 1216 c, and1216 d, and 1226 a, 1226 b, 1226 c, and 1226 d by splitting the squarefirst coding unit 1200. According to an embodiment, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine processing orders of the third coding units1216 a, 1216 b, 1216 c, and 1216 d, and 1226 a, 1226 b, 1226 c, and 1226d based on a splitting method of the first coding unit 1200.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the third coding units 1216 a, 1216 b, 1216 c, and 1216 d bysplitting the second coding units 1210 a and 1210 b generated bysplitting the first coding unit 1200 in a vertical direction, in ahorizontal direction, and may process the third coding units 1216 a,1216 b, 1216 c, and 1216 d in a processing order 1217 for initiallyprocessing the third coding units 1216 a and 1216 c, which are includedin the left second coding unit 1210 a, in a vertical direction and thenprocessing the third coding unit 1216 b and 1216 d, which are includedin the right second coding unit 1210 b, in a vertical direction.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the third coding units 1226 a, 1226 b, 1226 c, and 1226 d bysplitting the second coding units 1220 a and 1220 b generated bysplitting the first coding unit 1200 in a horizontal direction, in avertical direction, and may process the third coding units 1226 a, 1226b, 1226 c, and 1226 d in a processing order 1227 for initiallyprocessing the third coding units 1226 a and 1226 b, which are includedin the upper second coding unit 1220 a, in a horizontal direction andthen processing the third coding unit 1226 c and 1226 d, which areincluded in the lower second coding unit 1220 b, in a horizontaldirection.

Referring to FIG. 12 , the square third coding units 1216 a, 1216 b,1216 c, and 1216 d, and 1226 a, 1226 b, 1226 c, and 1226 d may bedetermined by splitting the second coding units 1210 a and 1210 b, and1220 a and 1920 b, respectively. Although the second coding units 1210 aand 1210 b are determined by splitting the first coding unit 1200 in avertical direction differently from the second coding units 1220 a and1220 b which are determined by splitting the first coding unit 1200 in ahorizontal direction, the third coding units 1216 a, 1216 b, 1216 c, and1216 d, and 1226 a, 1226 b, 1226 c, and 1226 d split therefromeventually show same-shaped coding units split from the first codingunit 1200. As such, by recursively splitting a coding unit in differentmanners based on at least one of the block shape information and theinformation about the split shape mode, the image decoding apparatus 100may process a plurality of coding units in different orders even whenthe coding units are eventually determined to be the same shape.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process of determining a depth of a coding unit asa shape and size of the coding unit change, when the coding unit isrecursively split such that a plurality of coding units are determined,according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the depth of the coding unit, based on a predeterminedcriterion. For example, the predetermined criterion may be the length ofa long side of the coding unit. When the length of a long side of acoding unit before being split is 2n times (n>0) the length of a longside of a split current coding unit, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine that a depth of the current coding unit is increased froma depth of the coding unit before being split, by n. In the followingdescription, a coding unit having an increased depth is expressed as acoding unit of a deeper depth.

Referring to FIG. 13 , according to an embodiment, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine a second coding unit 1302 and a third codingunit 1304 of deeper depths by splitting a square first coding unit 1300based on block shape information indicating a square shape (for example,the block shape information may be expressed as ‘0: SQUARE’). Assumingthat the size of the square first coding unit 1300 is 2N×2N, the secondcoding unit 1302 determined by splitting a width and height of the firstcoding unit 1300 to ½ may have a size of N×N. Furthermore, the thirdcoding unit 1304 determined by splitting a width and height of thesecond coding unit 1302 to ½ may have a size of N/2×N/2. In this case, awidth and height of the third coding unit 1304 are ¼ times those of thefirst coding unit 1300. When a depth of the first coding unit 1300 is D,a depth of the second coding unit 1302, the width and height of whichare ½ times those of the first coding unit 1300, may be D+1, and a depthof the third coding unit 1304, the width and height of which are ¼ timesthose of the first coding unit 1300, may be D+2.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine a second coding unit 1312 or 1322 and a third coding unit 1314or 1324 of deeper depths by splitting a non-square first coding unit1310 or 1320 based on block shape information indicating a non-squareshape (for example, the block shape information may be expressed as ‘1:NS_VER’ indicating a non-square shape, a height of which is longer thana width, or as ‘2: NS_HOR’ indicating a non-square shape, a width ofwhich is longer than a height).

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine a second coding unit1302, 1312, or 1322 by splitting at least one of a width and height ofthe first coding unit 1310 having a size of N×2N. That is, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the second coding unit 1302 havinga size of N×N or the second coding unit 1322 having a size of N×N/2 bysplitting the first coding unit 1310 in a horizontal direction, or maydetermine the second coding unit 1312 having a size of N/2×N bysplitting the first coding unit 1310 in horizontal and verticaldirections.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the second coding unit 1302, 1312, or 1322 by splitting atleast one of a width and height of the first coding unit 1320 having asize of 2N×N. That is, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe second coding unit 1302 having a size of N×N or the second codingunit 1312 having a size of N/2×N by splitting the first coding unit 1320in a vertical direction, or may determine the second coding unit 1322having a size of N×N/2 by splitting the first coding unit 1320 inhorizontal and vertical directions.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine a third coding unit 1304, 1314, or 1324 by splitting at leastone of a width and height of the second coding unit 1302 having a sizeof N×N. That is, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine thethird coding unit 1304 having a size of N/2×N/2, the third coding unit1314 having a size of N/4×N/2, or the third coding unit 1324 having asize of N/2×N/4 by splitting the second coding unit 1302 in vertical andhorizontal directions.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the third coding unit 1304, 1314, or 1324 by splitting atleast one of a width and height of the second coding unit 1312 having asize of N/2×N. That is, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe third coding unit 1304 having a size of N/2×N/2 or the third codingunit 1324 having a size of N/2×N/4 by splitting the second coding unit1312 in a horizontal direction, or may determine the third coding unit1314 having a size of N/4×N/2 by splitting the second coding unit 1312in vertical and horizontal directions.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the third coding unit 1304, 1314, or 1324 by splitting atleast one of a width and height of the second coding unit 1322 having asize of N×N/2. That is, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe third coding unit 1304 having a size of N/2×N/2 or the third codingunit 1314 having a size of N/4×N/2 by splitting the second coding unit1322 in a vertical direction, or may determine the third coding unit1324 having a size of N/2×N/4 by splitting the second coding unit 1322in vertical and horizontal directions.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may splitthe square coding unit 1300, 1302, or 1304 in a horizontal or verticaldirection. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe first coding unit 1310 having a size of N×2N by splitting the firstcoding unit 1300 having a size of 2N×2N in a vertical direction, or maydetermine the first coding unit 1320 having a size of 2N×N by splittingthe first coding unit 1300 in a horizontal direction. According to anembodiment, when a depth is determined based on the length of thelongest side of a coding unit, a depth of a coding unit determined bysplitting the first coding unit 1300 having a size of 2N×2N in ahorizontal or vertical direction may be the same as the depth of thefirst coding unit 1300.

According to an embodiment, a width and height of the third coding unit1314 or 1324 may be ¼ times those of the first coding unit 1310 or 1320.When a depth of the first coding unit 1310 or 1320 is D, a depth of thesecond coding unit 1312 or 1322, the width and height of which are ½times those of the first coding unit 1310 or 1320, may be D+1, and adepth of the third coding unit 1314 or 1324, the width and height ofwhich are ¼ times those of the first coding unit 1310 or 1320, may beD+2.

FIG. 14 illustrates depths that are determinable based on shapes andsizes of coding units, and part indexes (PIDs) that are fordistinguishing the coding units, according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine various-shape second coding units by splitting a square firstcoding unit 1400. Referring to FIG. 14 , the image decoding apparatus100 may determine second coding units 1402 a and 1402 b, 1404 a and 1404b, and 1406 a, 1406 b, 1406 c, and 1406 d by splitting the first codingunit 1400 in at least one of vertical and horizontal directions based oninformation about a split shape mode. That is, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the second coding units 1402 a and 1402 b,1404 a and 1404 b, and 1406 a, 1406 b, 1406 c, and 1406 d, based on theinformation about the split shape mode of the first coding unit 1400.

According to an embodiment, a depth of the second coding units 1402 aand 1402 b, 1404 a and 1404 b, and 1406 a, 1406 b, 1406 c, and 1406 d,which are determined based on the information about the split shape modeof the square first coding unit 1400, may be determined based on thelength of a long side thereof. For example, because the length of a sideof the square first coding unit 1400 equals the length of a long side ofthe non-square second coding units 1402 a and 1402 b, and 1404 a and1404 b, the first coding unit 2100 and the non-square second codingunits 1402 a and 1402 b, and 1404 a and 1404 b may have the same depth,e.g., D. However, when the image decoding apparatus 100 splits the firstcoding unit 1400 into the four square second coding units 1406 a, 1406b, 1406 c, and 1406 d based on the information about the split shapemode, because the length of a side of the square second coding units1406 a, 1406 b, 1406 c, and 1406 d is ½ times the length of a side ofthe first coding unit 1400, a depth of the second coding units 1406 a,1406 b, 1406 c, and 1406 d may be D+1 which is deeper than the depth Dof the first coding unit 1400 by 1.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine a plurality of second coding units 1412 a and 1412 b, and 1414a, 1414 b, and 1414 c by splitting a first coding unit 1410, a height ofwhich is longer than a width, in a horizontal direction based on theinformation about the split shape mode. According to an embodiment, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine a plurality of second codingunits 1422 a and 1422 b, and 1424 a, 1424 b, and 1424 c by splitting afirst coding unit 1420, a width of which is longer than a height, in avertical direction based on the information about the split shape mode.

According to an embodiment, a depth of the second coding units 1412 aand 1412 b, and 1414 a, 1414 b, and 1414 c, or 1422 a and 1422 b, and1424 a, 1424 b, and 1424 c, which are determined based on theinformation about the split shape mode of the non-square first codingunit 1410 or 1420, may be determined based on the length of a long sidethereof. For example, because the length of a side of the square secondcoding units 1412 a and 1412 b is ½ times the length of a long side ofthe first coding unit 1410 having a non-square shape, a height of whichis longer than a width, a depth of the square second coding units 1412 aand 1412 b is D+1 which is deeper than the depth D of the non-squarefirst coding unit 1410 by 1.

Furthermore, the image decoding apparatus 100 may split the non-squarefirst coding unit 1410 into an odd number of second coding units 1414 a,1414 b, and 1414 c based on the information about the split shape mode.The odd number of second coding units 1414 a, 1414 b, and 1414 c mayinclude the non-square second coding units 1414 a and 1414 c and thesquare second coding unit 1414 b. In this case, because the length of along side of the non-square second coding units 1414 a and 1414 c andthe length of a side of the square second coding unit 1414 b are ½ timesthe length of a long side of the first coding unit 1410, a depth of thesecond coding units 1414 a, 1414 b, and 1414 c may be D+1 which isdeeper than the depth D of the non-square first coding unit 1410 by 1.The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine depths of coding unitssplit from the first coding unit 1420 having a non-square shape, a widthof which is longer than a height, by using the above-described method ofdetermining depths of coding units split from the first coding unit1410.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine PIDs for identifying split coding units, based on a size ratiobetween the coding units when an odd number of split coding units do nothave equal sizes. Referring to FIG. 14 , a coding unit 1414 b of acenter location among an odd number of split coding units 1414 a, 1414b, and 1414 c may have a width equal to that of the other coding units1414 a and 1414 c and a height which is two times that of the othercoding units 1414 a and 1414 c. That is, in this case, the coding unit1414 b at the center location may include two of the other coding unit1414 a or 1414 c. Therefore, when a PID of the coding unit 1414 b at thecenter location is 1 based on a scan order, a PID of the coding unit1414 c located next to the coding unit 1414 b may be increased by 2 andthus may be 3. That is, discontinuity in PID values may be present.According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine whether an odd number of split coding units do not have equalsizes, based on whether discontinuity is present in PIDs for identifyingthe split coding units.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine whether to use a specific splitting method, based on PIDvalues for identifying a plurality of coding units determined bysplitting a current coding unit. Referring to FIG. 14 , the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine an even number of coding units 1412a and 1412 b or an odd number of coding units 1414 a, 1414 b, and 1414 cby splitting the first coding unit 1410 having a rectangular shape, aheight of which is longer than a width. The image decoding apparatus 100may use PIDs to identify respective coding units. According to anembodiment, the PID may be obtained from a sample of a predeterminedlocation of each coding unit (e.g., a top left sample).

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine a coding unit at a predetermined location from among the splitcoding units, by using the PIDs for distinguishing the coding units.According to an embodiment, when the information about the split shapemode of the first coding unit 1410 having a rectangular shape, a heightof which is longer than a width, indicates to split a coding unit intothree coding units, the image decoding apparatus 100 may split the firstcoding unit 1410 into three coding units 1414 a, 1414 b, and 1414 c. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may assign a PID to each of the threecoding units 1414 a, 1414 b, and 1414 c. The image decoding apparatus100 may compare PIDs of an odd number of split coding units to determinea coding unit at a center location from among the coding units. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the coding unit 1414 b havinga PID corresponding to a middle value among the PIDs of the codingunits, as the coding unit at the center location from among the codingunits determined by splitting the first coding unit 1410. According toan embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine PIDs fordistinguishing split coding units, based on a size ratio between thecoding units when the split coding units do not have equal sizes.Referring to FIG. 14 , the coding unit 1414 b generated by splitting thefirst coding unit 1410 may have a width equal to that of the othercoding units 1414 a and 1414 c and a height which is two times that ofthe other coding units 1414 a and 1414 c. In this case, when the PID ofthe coding unit 1414 b at the center location is 1, the PID of thecoding unit 1414 c located next to the coding unit 1414 b may beincreased by 2 and thus may be 3. When the PID is not uniformlyincreased as described above, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine that a coding unit is split into a plurality of coding unitsincluding a coding unit having a size different from that of the othercoding units. According to an embodiment, when the information about thesplit shape mode indicates to split a coding unit into an odd number ofcoding units, the image decoding apparatus 100 may split a currentcoding unit in such a manner that a coding unit of a predeterminedlocation among an odd number of coding units (e.g., a coding unit of acentre location) has a size different from that of the other codingunits. In this case, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine thecoding unit of the centre location, which has a different size, by usingPIDs of the coding units. However, the PIDs and the size or location ofthe coding unit of the predetermined location are not limited to theabove-described examples, and various PIDs and various locations andsizes of coding units may be used.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may use apredetermined data unit where a coding unit starts to be recursivelysplit.

FIG. 15 illustrates that a plurality of coding units are determinedbased on a plurality of predetermined data units included in a picture,according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, a predetermined data unit may be defined asa data unit where a coding unit starts to be recursively split by usingat least one of block shape information and information about a splitshape mode. That is, the predetermined data unit may correspond to acoding unit of an uppermost depth, which is used to determine aplurality of coding units split from a current picture. In the followingdescriptions, for convenience of explanation, the predetermined dataunit is referred to as a reference data unit.

According to an embodiment, the reference data unit may have apredetermined size and a predetermined size shape. According to anembodiment, a reference coding unit may include M×N samples. Herein, Mand N may be equal to each other, and may be integers expressed aspowers of 2. That is, the reference data unit may have a square ornon-square shape, and may be split into an integer number of codingunits.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may splitthe current picture into a plurality of reference data units. Accordingto an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may split theplurality of reference data units, which are split from the currentpicture, by using the information about the split shape mode of eachreference data unit. The operation of splitting the reference data unitmay correspond to a splitting operation using a quadtree structure.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maypreviously determine the minimum size allowed for the reference dataunits included in the current picture. Accordingly, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine various reference data units having sizesequal to or greater than the minimum size, and may determine one or morecoding units by using the block shape information and the informationabout the split shape mode with reference to the determined referencedata unit.

Referring to FIG. 15 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may use a squarereference coding unit 1500 or a non-square reference coding unit 1502.According to an embodiment, the shape and size of reference coding unitsmay be determined based on various data units capable of including oneor more reference coding units (e.g., sequences, pictures, slices, slicesegments, largest coding units, or the like).

According to an embodiment, the receiver 110 of the image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain, from a bitstream, at least one of referencecoding unit shape information and reference coding unit size informationwith respect to each of the various data units. An operation ofsplitting the square reference coding unit 1500 into one or more codingunits has been described above in relation to the operation of splittingthe current coding unit 300 of FIG. 3 , and an operation of splittingthe non-square reference coding unit 1502 into one or more coding unitshas been described above in relation to the operation of splitting thecurrent coding unit 400 or 450 of FIG. 4 . Thus, detailed descriptionsthereof will not be provided herein.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may use aPID for identifying the size and shape of reference coding units, todetermine the size and shape of reference coding units according to somedata units previously determined based on a predetermined condition.That is, the receiver 110 may obtain, from the bitstream, only the PIDfor identifying the size and shape of reference coding units withrespect to each slice, slice segment, or largest coding unit which is adata unit satisfying a predetermined condition (e.g., a data unit havinga size equal to or smaller than a slice) among the various data units(e.g., sequences, pictures, slices, slice segments, largest codingunits, or the like). The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine thesize and shape of reference data units with respect to each data unit,which satisfies the predetermined condition, by using the PID. When thereference coding unit shape information and the reference coding unitsize information are obtained and used from the bitstream according toeach data unit having a relatively small size, efficiency of using thebitstream may not be high, and therefore, only the PID may be obtainedand used instead of directly obtaining the reference coding unit shapeinformation and the reference coding unit size information. In thiscase, at least one of the size and shape of reference coding unitscorresponding to the PID for identifying the size and shape of referencecoding units may be previously determined. That is, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine at least one of the size and shape ofreference coding units included in a data unit serving as a unit forobtaining the PID, by selecting the previously determined at least oneof the size and shape of reference coding units based on the PID.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may use oneor more reference coding units included in a largest coding unit. Thatis, a largest coding unit split from a picture may include one or morereference coding units, and coding units may be determined byrecursively splitting each reference coding unit. According to anembodiment, at least one of a width and height of the largest codingunit may be integer times at least one of the width and height of thereference coding units. According to an embodiment, the size ofreference coding units may be obtained by splitting the largest codingunit n times based on a quadtree structure. That is, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the reference coding units by splitting thelargest coding unit n times based on a quadtree structure, and may splitthe reference coding unit based on at least one of the block shapeinformation and the information about the split shape mode according tovarious embodiments.

FIG. 16 illustrates a processing block serving as a criterion fordetermining a determination order of reference coding units included ina picture 1600, according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine one or more processing blocks split from a picture. Theprocessing block is a data unit including one or more reference codingunits split from a picture, and the one or more reference coding unitsincluded in the processing block may be determined according to aspecific order. That is, a determination order of one or more referencecoding units determined in each processing block may correspond to oneof various types of orders for determining reference coding units, andmay vary depending on the processing block. The determination order ofreference coding units, which is determined with respect to eachprocessing block, may be one of various orders, e.g., raster scan order,Z-scan, N-scan, up-right diagonal scan, horizontal scan, and verticalscan, but is not limited to the above-mentioned scan orders.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtainprocessing block size information and may determine the size of one ormore processing blocks included in the picture. The image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain the processing block size information from abitstream and may determine the size of one or more processing blocksincluded in the picture. The size of processing blocks may be apredetermined size of data units, which is indicated by the processingblock size information.

According to an embodiment, the receiver 110 of the image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain the processing block size information from thebitstream according to each specific data unit. For example, theprocessing block size information may be obtained from the bitstream ina data unit such as an image, sequence, picture, slice, or slicesegment. That is, the receiver 110 may obtain the processing block sizeinformation from the bitstream according to each of the various dataunits, and the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the size ofone or more processing blocks, which are split from the picture, byusing the obtained processing block size information. The size of theprocessing blocks may be integer times that of the reference codingunits.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the size of processing blocks 1602 and 1612 included in thepicture 1600. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the size of processing blocks based on the processing blocksize information obtained from the bitstream. Referring to FIG. 16 ,according to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine a width of the processing blocks 1602 and 1612 to be fourtimes the width of the reference coding units, and may determine aheight of the processing blocks 1602 and 1612 to be four times theheight of the reference coding units. The image decoding apparatus 100may determine a determination order of one or more reference codingunits in one or more processing blocks.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the processing blocks 1602 and 1612, which are included in thepicture 1600, based on the size of processing blocks, and may determinea determination order of one or more reference coding units in theprocessing blocks 1602 and 1612. According to an embodiment,determination of reference coding units may include determination of thesize of the reference coding units.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain,from the bitstream, determination order information of one or morereference coding units included in one or more processing blocks, andmay determine a determination order with respect to one or morereference coding units based on the obtained determination orderinformation. The determination order information may be defined as anorder or direction for determining the reference coding units in theprocessing block. That is, the determination order of reference codingunits may be independently determined with respect to each processingblock.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain,from the bitstream, the determination order information of referencecoding units according to each specific data unit. For example, thereceiver 110 may obtain the determination order information of referencecoding units from the bitstream according to each data unit such as animage, sequence, picture, slice, slice segment, or processing block.Because the determination order information of reference coding unitsindicates an order for determining reference coding units in aprocessing block, the determination order information may be obtainedwith respect to each specific data unit including an integer number ofprocessing blocks.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine one or more reference coding units based on the determineddetermination order.

According to an embodiment, the receiver 110 may obtain thedetermination order information of reference coding units from thebitstream as information related to the processing blocks 1602 and 1612,and the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine a determination orderof one or more reference coding units included in the processing blocks1602 and 1612 and determine one or more reference coding units, whichare included in the picture 1600, based on the determination order.Referring to FIG. 16 , the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinedetermination orders 1604 and 1614 of one or more reference coding unitsin the processing blocks 1602 and 1612, respectively. For example, whenthe determination order information of reference coding units isobtained with respect to each processing block, different types of thedetermination order information of reference coding units may beobtained for the processing blocks 1602 and 1612. When the determinationorder 1604 of reference coding units in the processing block 1602 is araster scan order, reference coding units included in the processingblock 1602 may be determined according to a raster scan order. On thecontrary, when the determination order 1614 of reference coding units inthe other processing block 1612 is a backward raster scan order,reference coding units included in the processing block 1612 may bedetermined according to the backward raster scan order.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may decodethe determined one or more reference coding units. The image decodingapparatus 100 may decode an image, based on the reference coding unitsdetermined as described above. A method of decoding the reference codingunits may include various image decoding methods.

According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtainblock shape information indicating the shape of a current coding unit orinformation about a split shape mode indicating a splitting method ofthe current coding unit, from the bitstream, and may use the obtainedinformation. The block shape information or the information about thesplit shape mode may be included in the bitstream related to variousdata units. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may use theblock shape information or the information about the split shape modeincluded in a sequence parameter set, a picture parameter set, a videoparameter set, a slice header, or a slice segment header. Furthermore,the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain, from the bitstream, asyntax element corresponding to the block shape information or theinformation about the split shape mode according to each largest codingunit, each reference coding unit, or each processing block, and may usethe obtained syntax element.

Hereinafter, a method of determining a split rule, according to anembodiment of the disclosure will be described in detail.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine a split rule of an image.The split rule may be pre-determined between the image decodingapparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule of the image, based oninformation obtained from a bitstream. The image decoding apparatus 100may determine the split rule based on the information obtained from atleast one of a sequence parameter set, a picture parameter set, a videoparameter set, a slice header, and a slice segment header. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the split rule differentlyaccording to frames, slices, temporal layers, largest coding units, orcoding units.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the split rule based onblock shape information of a coding unit. The image decoding apparatus100 may determine the block shape information of the coding unit. Theblock shape information may include a size, shape, a ratio of width andheight, and direction information of the coding unit. The image encodingapparatus 2200 and the image decoding apparatus 100 may pre-determine todetermine the split rule based on the block shape information of thecoding unit. However, an embodiment is not limited thereto. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the split rule based on theinformation obtained from the bitstream received from the image encodingapparatus 2200.

The shape of the coding unit may include a square and a non-square. Whenthe lengths of the width and height of the coding unit are the same, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the shape of the coding unitto be a square. Also, when the lengths of the width and height of thecoding unit are not the same, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the shape of the coding unit to be a non-square.

The size of the coding unit may include various sizes, such as 4×4, 8×4,4×8, 8×8, 16×4, 16×8, and to 256×256. The size of the coding unit may beclassified based on the length of a long side of the coding unit, thelength of a short side, or the area. The image decoding apparatus 100may apply the same split rule to coding units classified as the samegroup. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may classify codingunits having the same lengths of the long sides as having the same size.Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may apply the same split rule tocoding units having the same lengths of long sides.

The ratio of the width and height of the coding unit may include 1:2,2:1, 1:4, 4:1, 1:8, 8:1, 1:16, 16:1, or the like. Also, a direction ofthe coding unit may include a horizontal direction and a verticaldirection. The horizontal direction may indicate a case in which thelength of the width of the coding unit is longer than the length of theheight thereof. The vertical direction may indicate a case in which thelength of the width of the coding unit is shorter than the length of theheight thereof.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may adaptively determine the split rulebased on the size of the coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100may differently determine an allowable split shape mode based on thesize of the coding unit. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine whether splitting is allowed based on the size of thecoding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine a splitdirection according to the size of the coding unit. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine an allowable split type according to thesize of the coding unit.

The split rule determined based on the size of the coding unit may be asplit rule pre-determined between the image encoding apparatus 2200 andthe image decoding apparatus 100. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine the split rule based on the information obtained from thebitstream.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may adaptively determine the split rulebased on a location of the coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100may adaptively determine the split rule based on the location of thecoding unit in the image.

Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the split rule suchthat coding units generated via different splitting paths do not havethe same block shape. However, an embodiment is not limited thereto, andthe coding units generated via different splitting paths have the sameblock shape. The coding units generated via the different splittingpaths may have different decoding process orders. Because the decodingprocess orders have been described above with reference to FIG. 12 ,details thereof are not provided again.

Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may adaptively determine thesplit rule based on information about a split shape mode of an encodedframe (or slice) and information about a split shape mode of aperipheral block adjacent to a current block. Hereinafter, the method ofdetermining the split rule will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 17 through 24 .

FIG. 17 is a diagram for describing the method of determining the splitrule according to the size of the coding unit, according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may allow an allowable size of a coding unit from maximumM×N to minimum P×Q. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the imageencoding apparatus 2200 may pre-determine a minimum size or a maximumsize of the coding unit. M, N, P, and Q may be positive integers. M andN may be the same value or different values. P and Q may be the samevalue or different values. M×N and may include one of 256×256, 128×128,or 64×64. Also, P×Q may include 4×4.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain the maximum size or the minimum size of thecoding unit from a bitstream. The image decoding apparatus 100 mayobtain the maximum size or the minimum size of the coding unit from thebitstream, based on a pre-determined length of a minimum size. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200 maydetermine a pre-determined minimum length of a coding unit to be K. Anew minimum size of a coding unit may be P×Q. A new maximum size of acoding unit may be M×N. To determine P, the image decoding apparatus 100may receive log 2(A) from the bitstream. Here, a value of log 2(A) isequal to log 2(P)−log 2(K). The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtainP according to Equation 1 below.P=2{circumflex over ( )}(log 2(A)+log 2(K))  [Equation 1]

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine Q, M, and N in the samemanner.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain the new maximum size (M×N) of the coding unit,based on the new minimum size of the coding unit. For example, when theimage decoding apparatus 100 obtains the length P of one side of the newminimum size of the coding unit according to Equation 1, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may obtain the length M of one side of themaximum size of the coding unit according to Equation 2.M=2{circumflex over ( )}(log 2(B)+log 2(P))  [Equation 2]

Here, log 2(B) is a value obtained by the image decoding apparatus 100from the bitstream, and may be equal to log 2(M)−log(P).

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may split a largest coding unit into coding units of afirst size. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the coding unitof the first size by splitting the largest coding unit. For example,when a current coding unit is the largest coding unit, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may obtain the coding units of the first size byquad-splitting the largest coding unit without a bin stringcorresponding to a split shape mode. In particular, when a size of acurrent coding unit 1701 is 256×256 and the size 256×256 is a maximumsize of a coding unit, the image decoding apparatus 100 may quad-splitthe current coding unit 1701 into coding units 1702 of 125×128 sizes.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may split the coding unit of the firstsize into a plurality of coding units, based on the split rule and thebin string corresponding to the split shape mode. For example, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may split the coding units 1702 of the 128×128size, which are obtained by quad-splitting the coding unit of the256×256 size, into the plurality of coding units, based on the splitrule and the bin string corresponding to the split shape mode.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, when the size of thecurrent coding unit is the same as the minimum size of the coding unit,the image decoding apparatus 100 may no longer split the current codingunit.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine a split direction of the coding unit, basedon the size of the current coding unit. For example, when the length ofa short side of the current coding unit is the same as the minimumlength of one side of the coding unit, the image decoding apparatus 100may split the current coding unit in a direction of dividing the lengthof the long side of the current coding unit. For example, the minimumlength of one side of the coding unit may be 4. The image decodingapparatus 100 may binary-split a coding unit 1711 of a 8×4 size in avertical direction to obtain coding units 1712 of 4×4 sizes. When acoding unit of a 8×4 size is binary-split in a horizontal direction, thelength of the height of the coding unit is 2, and thus the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may no longer allow splitting in the horizontaldirection.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, when a non-squarecoding unit is tri-split, the image decoding apparatus 100 may performtri-split in a direction of splitting a long side of a coding unit. Whena square coding unit is tri-split, the image decoding apparatus 100 mayperform tri-split in any one of a horizontal direction or a verticaldirection. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determineto tri-split a coding unit 1721 of a 32×8 size. Because the coding unit1721 of the 32×8 size is a coding unit having a long width, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine to split a coding unit in avertical direction. The image decoding apparatus 100 may performtri-split in the vertical direction to obtain coding units 1722 and 1724of a 8×8 size and a coding unit 1723 of a 16×8 size.

Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine to tri-split acoding unit of a 8×32 size. Because a coding unit 1731 of the 8×32 sizeis a coding unit having a long height, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine to split a coding unit in a horizontal direction. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may perform tri-split in a horizontaldirection to obtain coding units 1732 and 1734 of a 8×8 size and acoding unit 1733 of a 8×16 size.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for describing a split shape mode according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

A coding unit may be hierarchically split based on information about asplit shape mode. The information about the split shape mode may includeat least one of information indicating whether to perform splitting,split direction information, and split type information. The split typemay include at least one of a binary split, a tri split, or a quadsplit.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may binary-split the coding unit. Thebinary split denotes splitting one of the width or the height of thecoding unit. A coding unit 1801 of which a ratio of the width and heightis 1:1, a coding unit 1804 of which a ratio of the width and height is1:2, a coding unit 1805 of which a ratio of the width and height is 1:4,a coding unit of which a ratio of the width and height is 1:4 or 4:1 maybe bisected. A coding unit 1802 of which a ratio of the width and heightis 1:1, a coding unit 1803 of which a ratio of the width and height is1:2, a coding unit 1806 of which a ratio of the width and height is 1:4,a coding unit of which a ratio of the width and height is 1:4 or 4:1 maybe bisected.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may tri-split a coding unit. The trisplit may denote splitting the width or height of the coding unit in1:2:1. However, an embodiment is not limited thereto, and the tri splitmay denote splitting in 1:1:2 or 2:1:1. A coding unit 1811 of which aratio of the width and height is 1:1, a coding unit 1813 of which aratio of the width and height is 1:2, a coding unit 1815 of which aratio of the width and height is 1:4, or a coding unit of which a ratioof the width and height is 1:8 may be tri-split in a horizontaldirection. Also, a coding unit 1812 of which a ratio of the width andheight is 1:1, a coding unit 1814 of which a ratio of the width andheight is 2:1, a coding unit 1816 of which a ratio of the width andheight is 4:1, or a coding unit of which a ratio of the width and heightis 8:1 may be tri-split in a vertical direction.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may quad-split a coding unit. The quadsplit may denote bisecting the width and height of the coding unit. Atleast one of a coding unit 1821 of which a ratio of the width and heightis 1:1, a coding unit of which a ratio of the width and height is 1:2, acoding unit of which a ratio of the width and height is 2:1, a codingunit of which a ratio of the width and height is 1:4, a coding unit ofwhich a ratio of the width and height is 4:1, a coding unit of which aratio of the width and height is 1:8, and a coding unit of which a ratioof the width and height is 8:1 may be quad-split.

The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200may determine to use some of a plurality of split types. In other words,the image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200may determine an allowable split type to be used to decode and encodethe image. The allowable split type may be pre-determined between theimage decoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200.However, an embodiment is not limited thereto, and the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the allowable split type based oninformation obtained from a bitstream. For example, the image decodingapparatus 100 may use all of the binary split, the tri split, or thequad split. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may use the binarysplit or the tri split. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may usethe binary split or the quad split.

Hereinafter, the method for determining a split rule will be describedin more detail with reference to FIG. 19 .

FIG. 19 is a diagram for describing a method of determining a splitrule, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 19 illustrates some of split rules allowed by the image decodingapparatus 100 in a table 1900, according to an embodiment of thedisclosure. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowableratio of a width and height of a coding unit. The image decodingapparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200 may pre-determinethe allowable ratio of the width and height of the coding unit. Forexample, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the pre-determinedallowable ratio of the width and height of the coding unit withoutinformation received from a bitstream. Referring to a cell 1910, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 2:1, 1:4,4:1, 1:8, and 8:1 as allowable ratios.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the allowable ratio of thewidth and height, based on the information obtained from the bitstream.The allowable ratio may be 1:2{circumflex over ( )}N or 2{circumflexover ( )}N 1:1. Here, N is a positive integer including 0. For example,the image decoding apparatus 100 may receive a flag from the bitstreamto determine whether to use each of the ratios 1:1, 1:2, 2:1, 1:4, 4:1,1:8, 8:1, 1:16, and 16:1. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine whether to use a 1:1 ratio, based on a flag indicatingwhether to use the 1:1 ratio of the width and height of the coding unit.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine at least one allowableratio of the width and height, based on a received index or bin string.For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may group the ratios ofthe width and height of the coding unit. A first group may include a 1:1ratio. A second group may include 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1 ratios. A thirdgroup may include 1:1, 1:2, 2:1, 1:4, and 4:1 ratios. When the receivedindex or bin string indicates the third group, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the 1:1, 1:2, 2:1, 1:4, and 4:1 ratios asallowable ratios. Referring to the cell 1910, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 2:1, 1:4, 4:1, 1:8,and 8:1 as allowable ratios.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowable first rangeof the size of the coding unit, according to the ratio of the width andheight of the coding unit. The size of the coding unit may include atleast one of the length of width, the length of height, the length of along side, the length of a short side, or an area of the coding unit.The allowable first range of the size may include a minimum or maximumsize of the coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determinean allowable first range of the length of long side of the coding unit,according to the ratio of the width and height of the coding unit. Thefirst range may include a maximum and minimum vales of the length oflong side of the coding unit.

The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200may pre-determine the allowable first range of the length of long sideof the coding unit, according to the ratio of the width and height ofthe coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain theallowable first range of the length of long side of the coding unit,according to the pre-determined ratio of the width and height of thecoding unit without the information received from the bitstream. Theallowable first range of the length of long side of the coding unitaccording to the ratio of the width and height of the coding unit may beas shown in a cell 1930.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the allowable first range ofthe length of long side of the coding unit, according to the ratio ofthe width and height of the coding unit, based on the informationreceived from the bitstream. The image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the allowable first range of the length of long side of thecoding unit according to the ratio of the width and height of the codingunit as shown in the cell 1930, based on the information obtained fromthe bitstream.

The information obtained from the bitstream may have an array format.For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may receive {{6, 0}, {5,1}, {4, 2}, {0, 0}}. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain theallowable first range of the length of long side of the coding unitaccording to the ratio of the width and height as shown in the cell1930, based on the received {{6, 0}, {5, 1}, {4, 2}, {0, 0}}. {6, 0} mayindicate the first range of the long side of the coding unit of the 1:1ratio. {5, 0} may indicate the first range of the long side of thecoding unit of the 1:2 or 2:1 ratio. {4, 2} may indicate the first rangeof the long side of the coding unit of the 1:4 or 4:1 ratio. {0, 0} mayindicate the first range of the long side of the coding unit of the 1:8or 8:1 ratio.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the allowable first range ofthe length of long side from an array based on Equation 1. For example,{6, 0} may indicate the first range of the long side of the coding unitof the 1:1 ratio. Here, ‘6’ may be information about the maximum valueof the long side of the coding unit of the 1:1 ratio. Also ‘0’ may beinformation about the minimum value of the long side of the coding unitof the 1:1 ratio. The image decoding apparatus 100 may calculate2{circumflex over ( )}(6+log 2(4)) based on Equation 1 to set 256 as themaximum value of long side of the coding unit. Here, a pre-determinedminimum size K of the coding unit may be 4. Also, the image decodingapparatus 100 may calculate 2{circumflex over ( )}(0+log 2(4)) accordingto Equation 1 to set 4 as the minimum value of long side of the codingunit.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowable ratio of thewidth and height of the coding unit, based on at least one of Equation1, the maximum length of long side of the coding unit, or the minimumlength of long side of the coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100may obtain the first range of the length of long side, based on theinformation obtained from the bitstream. The first range of the lengthof long side of the coding unit may include the maximum length of longside of the coding unit or the minimum length of long side of the codingunit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain a range of the lengthof short side, based on the range of the length of long side and theratio of width and height. When the maximum value or minimum value ofthe length of short side is smaller than the pre-determined minimum sizeK of the coding unit, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethat the corresponding ratio of width and height is not allowable. Forexample, when {0, 0} indicates the range of long side of the coding unitof the 1:8 or 8:1 ratio, the image decoding apparatus 100 may calculate2{circumflex over ( )}(0+log 2(4)) based on Equation 1 to set 4 as themaximum value of long side of the coding unit. However, when the lengthof long side of the coding unit of the 1:8 or 8:1 ratio is 4, the lengthof short side needs to be 0.5. Because 0.5 is smaller than 4 that is thepre-determined minimum size of the coding unit, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine that 1:8 or 8:1 ratio is not allowable.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine whether to allowinformation about a certain split shape mode, based on the split rule.For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine whether itis possible to split a first coding unit, based on information about afirst split shape mode. When the image decoding apparatus 100 splits thefirst coding unit according to the information about the first splitshape mode, a second coding unit may be obtained. When the second codingunit does not satisfy at least one of an ‘allowable ratio of width andheight of a coding unit’ or an ‘allowable range of a length of long sideof the coding unit according to the ratio’, the image decoding apparatus100 may not allow the first split shape mode. On the other hand, whenthe second coding unit satisfies the ‘allowable ratio of width andheight of the coding unit’ and the ‘allowable range of the length oflong side of the coding unit according to the ratio’, the image decodingapparatus 100 may allow the first split shape mode.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowable split shapemode of a coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the imageencoding apparatus 2200 may pre-determine the allowable split shape modeof the coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain thepre-determined allowable split shape mode of the coding unit without theinformation received from the bitstream. Referring to a cell 1920, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine a binary split and a trisplit as the allowable split shape mode. However, an embodiment is notlimited thereto, and the image decoding apparatus 100 may also determinea quad split as the allowable split shape mode.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the allowable split shapemode of the coding unit from the bitstream. The image decoding apparatus100 may determine whether to use each split shape mode by receiving aflag from the bitstream. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the allowable split shape mode by receiving an index or a binstring. For example, referring to the cell 1920, the image decodingapparatus 100 may allow the binary split and the tri split. However, anembodiment is not limited thereto, and the image decoding apparatus 100may also determine a quad split as the allowable split shape mode.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowable second rangeof the size of coding unit, according to the split shape mode of thecoding unit. The size of the coding unit may include one of the lengthof width, the length of height, the length of long side, the length ofshort side, or the area of the coding unit. The allowable second rangeof the size may include the minimum or maximum size of the coding unit.The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowable second rangeof the length of long side of coding unit, according to the split shapemode of the coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the imageencoding apparatus 2200 may pre-determine the allowable second range ofthe length of long side of the coding unit, according to the split shapemode of the coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain theallowable second range of the length of long side of the coding unit,according to the pre-determined split shape mode of the coding unitwithout the information received from the bitstream. The allowablesecond range of the length of long side of the coding unit according tothe split shape mode of the coding unit may be as shown in a cell 1940.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the allowable second rangeof the length of long side of the coding unit, according to the splitshape mode of the coding unit, based on the information received fromthe bitstream. The information obtained from the bitstream may have anarray format. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may receive{{5, 1}, {4, 2}}. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain theallowable second range of the length of long side of the coding unit,according to the split shape mode as shown in the cell 1940, based onthe received {{5, 1}, {4, 2}}. {5, 1} may indicate the second range ofthe long side of the coding unit capable being binary-split. {4, 2} mayindicate the second range of the long side of the coding unit capablebeing tri-split.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the allowable second rangeof the length of long side from an array based on Equation 1. Forexample, {5, 1} may indicate the second range of the long side of thecoding unit capable being binary-split. Here, ‘5’ may be informationabout the maximum value of the long side of the coding unit capablebeing binary-split. Also, ‘1’ may be information about the minimum valueof the long side of the coding unit capable being binary-split. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may calculate 2{circumflex over ( )}(5+log2(4)) based on Equation 1 to set 128 as the maximum value of long sideof the coding unit. Here, a pre-determined minimum size K of the codingunit may be 4. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may calculate2{circumflex over ( )}(1+log 2(4)) according to Equation 1 to set 8 asthe minimum value of long side of the coding unit.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may change at least one of split rulesbased on the information obtained from the bitstream. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to entirely change the split rules, changesome of the split rules, or not change the split rules, based on theinformation obtained from the bitstream. When the bitstream indicates tochange some of the split rules, the image decoding apparatus 100 mayobtain information about a ‘split rule to be changed’ and ‘content ofsplit rule’, based on the information obtained from the bitstream. Forexample, the ‘split rule to be changed’ may be the maximum value of thelength of long side of the coding unit capable of being binary-split.Also, the ‘content of split rule’ may be ‘4’. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the maximum value of the length of long sideof the coding unit capable of being binary-split to be 64, based onEquation 1.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine whether to allowinformation about a certain split shape mode, based on the split rule.For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine that thelength of long side of the current coding unit does not satisfy theallowable range of the length of long side of the coding unit accordingto the first split shape mode. The image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine that the information about the first split shape mode is notallowed for the current coding unit. On the other hand, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine that the length of long side of thecurrent coding unit satisfies the allowable range of the length of longside of the coding unit according to the first split shape mode. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine that the information aboutthe first split shape mode is allowed for the current coding unit.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the split rule will be describedwith reference to FIG. 19 .

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, when the size of thecoding unit is smaller than a predetermined size, the image decodingapparatus 100 may not allow the tri split. For example, referring to thecell 1940, when the length of long side of the current coding unit issmaller than 16, the image decoding apparatus 100 may not allow the trisplit for the current coding unit.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule such that the binary split ispossible for a coding unit of which the length of long side is frommaximum M to minimum N. Here, M and N are each a positive integer. Forexample, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the maximumlength of long side capable of being binary-split to be 128. Also, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the minimum length of longside capable of being binary split to be 8. In other words, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may allow the binary split for a block of128×128, 128×64, 64×128, . . . 64×64, 64×32, 32×64, 8×4, and 4×8.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule such that the binary split ispossible for a coding unit of which the length of long side is frommaximum 128 to minimum 8. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the split rule such that binary-split of 1:1 ratio, 1:2 ratio,and 2:1 ratio are allowed for the coding units. In this case, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may allow the binary split for the coding unitsof the 128×128 128×64, 64×128, 64×64, 64×32, 32×64, 32×32, . . . , 16×8,8×16, and 8×8 sizes.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule such that the binary split ispossible for a coding unit of which the length of long side is frommaximum 128 to minimum 8. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the split rule such that binary-split of 1:1 ratio, 1:2 ratio,2:1 ratio, 1:4 ratio, and 4:1 ratio are allowed for the coding units. Inthis case, the image decoding apparatus 100 may allow the binary splitfor the coding units of the 128×128, 128×64, 128×32, 32×128, 64×128, . .. , 16×16, 16×4, 4×16, and 8×8 sizes.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule such that the tri split isused only when the length of long side of the coding unit is smallerthan M. Here, M is a positive integer. For example, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to use the tri split only when the length oflong side of the coding unit is smaller than 32.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule such that the tri split isused only when the length of long side of the coding unit is smallerthan or equal to M and equal to or greater than N. Here, M and N areeach a positive integer. For example, referring to the cell 1940, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine to use the tri split onlywhen the length of long side of the coding unit is smaller than 64 andgreater than 16.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule such that the current codingunit is split into coding units of 1:4 ratio or 4:1 ratio only when thelength of one side of the current coding unit is smaller than or equalto M and equal to or greater than N. Here, M and N are each a positiveinteger.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule such that the current codingunit is split into coding units of 1:2 ratio or 2:1 ratio only when thelength of one side of the current coding unit is smaller than or equalto M and equal to or greater than N. Here, M and N are each a positiveinteger.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to use the quad split. The image decodingapparatus 100 may allow the quad split for the coding unit of which thelength of long side is between M and N. Here, M and N are each apositive integer. The image decoding apparatus 100 may allow the quadsplit for the coding unit of which the length of long side is between128 and 8. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encodingapparatus 2200 may use pre-determined M and N. However, an embodiment isnot limited thereto. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine Mand N, based on the information obtained from the bitstream.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to use the binary split. The image decodingapparatus 100 may allow the binary split for the coding unit of whichthe length of long side is between M and N. Here, M and N are each apositive integer. For example, referring to the cell 1920 and the cell1940, the image decoding apparatus 100 may allow the binary split forthe coding unit of which the length of long side is from 128 to 8. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200 mayuse pre-determined M and N. However, an embodiment is not limitedthereto. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine M and N, basedon the information obtained from the bitstream.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to use the tri split. The image decodingapparatus 100 may allow the tri split for the coding unit of which thelength of long side is between M and N. Here, M and N are each apositive integer. For example, referring to the cell 1920 and the cell1940, the image decoding apparatus 100 may allow the tri split for thecoding unit of which the length of long side is from 64 to 16. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200 may usepre-determined M and N. However, an embodiment is not limited thereto.The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine M and N, based on theinformation obtained from the bitstream.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to use a square coding unit. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may allow the square coding unit of which thelength of long side is between M and N. Here, M and N are each apositive integer. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 mayallow the square coding unit of which the length of long side is between128 and 4. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encodingapparatus 2200 may use pre-determined M and N. However, an embodiment isnot limited thereto. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine Mand N, based on the information obtained from the bitstream.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to use the coding unit of which the ratio ofwidth and height is 1:2 or 2:1. The image decoding apparatus 100 mayallow the coding unit of which the length of long side is from M to Nand of the 1:2 or 2:1 ratio. Here, M and N are each a positive integer.For example, referring to the cell 1910 and the cell 1930, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may allow the coding unit of which the length oflong side is 128 to 8 and of the 1:2 or 2:1 ratio. In other words, theallowable sizes of the coding unit may be 128×64, 64×128, 64×32, 32×64,32×16, 16×32, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, and 4×8. The image decoding apparatus 100and the image encoding apparatus 2200 may use pre-determined M and N.However, an embodiment is not limited thereto. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine M and N, based on the information obtainedfrom the bitstream.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to use the coding unit of which the ratio ofwidth and height is 1:4 or 4:1. The image decoding apparatus 100 mayallow the coding unit of which the length of long side is from M to Nand of the 1:4 or 4:1 ratio. Here, M and N are each a positive integer.For example, referring to the cell 1910 and the cell 1930, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may allow the coding unit of which the length oflong side is 64 to 16 and of the 1:4 or 4:1 ratio. In other words, theallowable sizes of the coding unit may be 64×16, 16×64, 32×8, 8×32,16×4, and 4×16. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encodingapparatus 2200 may use pre-determined M and N. However, an embodiment isnot limited thereto. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine Mand N, based on the information obtained from the bitstream.

Also, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine to use the coding unit of which the ratio ofwidth and height is 1:8, 8:1, 1:16, or 16:1. The image decodingapparatus 100 may allow the coding unit of which the length of long sideis from M to N and of the 1:8, 8:1, 1:16, or 16:1 ratio.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may define a complexity level of theimage. The complexity level of the image may be an amount of bitresources required to display the image. In other words, when thecomplexity level of the image is high, the amount of bit resourcesrequired to display the image is large. Also, when the complexity levelof the image is low, the amount of bit resources required to display theimage is small.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may adaptively determine the split rulebased on the complexity level of the image. In other words, the splitrule may be determined for each complexity level of the image. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine an allowable split shape mode basedon the complexity level of the image. The image decoding apparatus 100may divide the complexity level of the image to N. The image decodingapparatus 100 may independently assign the allowable split shape modefor each of the N complexity levels of the image. The assigned allowablesplit shape modes may be the same or different from each other. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may receive information about thecomplexity level of the image from the bitstream. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the allowable split shape mode, based on thereceived complexity level of the image.

For example, when the information received from the bitstream indicatesa first complexity level, the image decoding apparatus 100 may allow thequad split. When the information received from the bitstream indicates asecond complexity level, the image decoding apparatus 100 may allow thequad split and the binary split. When the information received from thebitstream indicates a third complexity level, the image decodingapparatus 100 may allow the quad split, the binary split, and the trisplit. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus2200 may pre-determine the allowable split shape mode according to thecomplexity levels of the image. However, an embodiment is not limitedthereto and the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the allowablesplit shape mode according to the complexity levels of the image fromthe bitstream.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine allowable block shapeinformation, based on the complexity level of the image. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may divide the complexity level of the image toN. The image decoding apparatus 100 may assign the allowable block shapeinformation for each of the N complexity levels of the image. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may receive information about the complexitylevel of the image from the bitstream. The image decoding apparatus 100may determine the allowable block shape information, based on thereceived complexity level of the image.

For example, when the information received from the bitstream indicatesthe first complexity level, the image decoding apparatus 100 may allowthe square coding unit. When the information received from the bitstreamindicates the second complexity level, the image decoding apparatus 100may allow the coding unit of which the ratio of width and height is 1:1,1:2, or 2:1. When the information received from the bitstream indicatesthe third complexity level, the image decoding apparatus 100 may allowthe coding unit of which the ratio of width and height is 1:1, 1:2, 2:1,1:4, or 4:1. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encodingapparatus 2200 may pre-determine the allowable block shape informationaccording to the complexity levels of the image. However, an embodimentis not limited thereto and the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtainthe allowable block shape information according to the complexity levelsof the image from the bitstream.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for describing a method of determining a splitrule, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the split rule based on aprediction mode. The prediction mode may include an intra mode and aninter mode. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encodingapparatus 2200 may use a pre-determined split rule according toprediction modes. However, an embodiment is not limited thereto. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the split rule according to theprediction modes from a bitstream.

Referring to a table 2000, the image decoding apparatus 100 may notallow a coding unit of which a ratio of width and height is 1:8 or 8:1in the inter mode. Referring to a cell 2010, when the ratio of width andheight is 1:8 or 8:1, the image decoding apparatus 100 may set anallowable maximum length of a long side and an allowable minimum lengthof the long side of the coding unit to 0. In other words, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may not allow the coding unit of which the ratioof width and height is 1:8 or 8:1.

Although not shown in the table 2000, even in the intra mode, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may not allow the coding unit of which the ratioof width and height is 1:8 or 8:1.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for describing a method of splitting a currentcoding unit.

split_unit( ) may indicate a syntax for splitting the current codingunit. Information (split_mode) about a split shape mode may include atleast one of information indicating whether to perform splitting, splitdirection information, and split type information. The informationindicating whether to perform splitting indicates whether to split thecurrent coding unit. The split direction information indicates a splitinto one of a horizontal direction or a vertical direction.

The split type information indicates that a coding unit is split via oneof a binary split, a tri split, or a quad split. The binary splitdenotes splitting one of width or height of a coding unit by ½. The trisplit denotes splitting one of width or height of a coding unit by1:2:1. The quad split denotes splitting of width and height of a codingunit by ½, respectively.

For convenience of description, in the disclosure, the information(split_mode) about the split shape mode is distinguished into theinformation indicating whether to perform splitting, the split directioninformation, and the split type information, but is not limited thereto.The information about the split shape mode may be represented incombination of the information indicating whether to perform splitting,the split direction information, or the split type information. Forexample, the information (split_mode) about the split shape mode mayindicate that the current coding unit is not split (NO_SPLIT). Also, theinformation (split_mode) about the split shape mode may include a quadsplit (QUAD_SPLIT). Also, the information (split_mode) about the splitshape mode may indicate a binary vertical split (BI_VER_SPLIT). Also,the information (split_mode) about the split shape mode may indicate abinary vertical split (BI_VER_SPLIT). Also, the information (split_mode)about the split shape mode may indicate a binary horizontal split(BI_HOR_SPLIT). Also, the information (split_mode) about the split shapemode may indicate a tri vertical split (TRI_VER_SPLIT). Also, theinformation (split_mode) about the split shape mode may indicate a trihorizontal split (TRI_HOR_SPLIT).

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the information about thesplit shape mode based on the bin string. The image decoding apparatus100 may determine whether to split a coding unit, a split direction, anda split type, based on the bin string.

The bin string is information in a binary number. The bin string mayinclude at least one bit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe number of bits of the bin string, based on the number of allowablesplit shape modes from the current coding unit. For example, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine that there is a mode of splittingor not splitting the current coding unit. In other words, the number ofallowable split shape modes from the current coding unit may be 2. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the information about thesplit shape mode of the coding unit, based on the bin string of theinformation about the split shape mode including one bit. The one bitmay indicate whether to perform splitting. The bit may indicate not toperform splitting (NO_SPLIT). When the bit indicates to performsplitting, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the splitdirection or the split type, based on the allowable split shape mode ofthe current coding unit.

Also, when the number of allowable split shape modes from the currentcoding unit is 3, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine theinformation about the split shape mode of the coding unit, based on thebin string including 2 bits. A first bit of the bin string may indicatewhether to perform splitting. A second bit of the bin string mayindicate the split type or the split direction. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split direction or the split type basedon the allowable split shape mode of the current coding unit.

Also, when the number of allowable split shape modes from the currentcoding unit is 4 or 5, the image decoding apparatus 100 may split thecoding unit based on the bin string including 3 bits. A first bit of thebin string may indicate whether to perform splitting. A second bit ofthe bin string may indicate the split type or the split direction. Athird bit of the bin string may indicate the split direction or thesplit type. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the splitdirection or the split type based on the allowable split shape mode ofthe current coding unit.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the information about thesplit shape mode from the bitstream, but is not limited thereto. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine the information about thesplit shape mode, based on the split rule pre-agreed with the imageencoding apparatus 2200. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determineinformation about a pre-agreed split shape mode, based on the size ofthe current coding unit. For example, the image decoding apparatus 100may determine the information about the split shape mode for the codingunit of the maximum size to be quad split (QUAD_SPLIT). Also, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine the information about the splitshape mode for the coding unit of the minimum size to be no split(NO_SPLIT).

FIG. 21 is tables for describing a method of transmitting and receivinginformation about a split shape mode of a coding unit, according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may receive a bitstream from the imageencoding apparatus 2200. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain abin string corresponding to a split shape mode, from the bitstream. Theimage decoding apparatus 100 may obtain information about the splitshape mode, based on the bin string. The image decoding apparatus 100may split a current coding unit based on the information about the splitshape mode.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain a candidate split shape modeapplicable to the current coding unit, based on a split rule. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may obtain the candidate split shape modeapplicable to the current coding unit by referring to the table 1900 ofFIG. 19 or the table 2000 of FIG. 20 .

For example, the current coding unit may have a size of 64×32. Referringto FIG. 19 , because the length of long side of the current coding unitis 64, the image decoding apparatus 100 may use a binary split and a trisplit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine a case of notsplitting the current coding unit as a first candidate split shape mode.The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine a case ofbinary-splitting the current coding unit horizontally as a secondcandidate split shape mode. The image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine a case of binary-splitting the current coding unit verticallyas a third candidate split shape mode. Also, the image decodingapparatus 100 may determine a case of tri-splitting the current codingunit vertically as a fourth candidate split shape mode. Also, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine a case of tri-splitting the currentcoding unit horizontally as a fifth candidate split shape mode.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may exclude a split shape mode notallowable in the split rule from a candidate split shape mode. Accordingto an embodiment of the disclosure, the split rule may determine totri-split only the long side of the coding unit. Accordingly, the imagedecoding apparatus 100 may exclude the fifth candidate split shape modeof tri-splitting the coding unit of the 64×32 size in a horizontaldirection from the candidate split shape mode.

Also, when the coding unit is split according to a split shape mode anda coding unit having a block shape not allowable by the split rule isderived, the image decoding apparatus 100 may exclude the correspondingsplit shape mode from the candidate split shape mode.xx For example, thecurrent coding unit may have a size of 64×16. When the current codingunit is tri-split horizontally, coding units after splitting may havesizes of 64×8 and 64×4. In this case, 64×4 has a ratio of 16:1. Becausethe split rule according to the table 1900 of FIG. 19 does not allow1:16 or 16:1, the image decoding apparatus 100 may exclude a mode oftri-splitting horizontally from the candidate split shape mode.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine the information about thesplit shape mode of the current coding unit, based on at least one ofthe candidate split shape mode, the bin string corresponding to thesplit shape mode, and block shape information of the current codingunit. In particular, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain a splitshape mode index of the current coding unit, based on the number ofcandidate split shape modes and the bin string corresponding to thesplit shape mode. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determine theinformation about the split shape mode of the current coding unit, basedon the block shape information of the current coding unit and the splitshape mode index.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the split shape mode indexas follows. The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the number ofcandidate split shape modes. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 mayobtain the bin string corresponding to the split shape mode from thebitstream. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may determine thesplit shape mode index of the current coding unit, based on a table (oran array). The table may include a value of bin string according to thenumber of candidate split shape modes and the split shape mode index.

For example, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain “110” as thebin string corresponding to the split shape mode, from the bitstream.The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the split shape mode indexfrom the bin string, based on a table 2120. As described above, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may determine that the current coding unitmay have four candidate split shape modes from the first candidate splitshape mode to the fourth candidate split shape mode. Accordingly, theimage decoding apparatus 100 may refer to a column 2121 where the numberof candidate split shape modes is ‘4’. The image decoding apparatus 100may obtain ‘2’ as the split shape mode index based on the bin string‘110’.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may obtain the information about thesplit shape mode based on at least one of the split shape mode index andthe block shape information of the coding unit. The image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain the block shape information of the currentcoding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100 may select the informationabout the split shape mode, based on the obtained block shapeinformation of the current coding unit. The image decoding apparatus 100may obtain the information about the split shape mode, based on thetable (or array). The table may include the information about the splitshape mode according to the split shape mode index and the block shapeinformation of the coding unit. The block shape information may includea direction, size, shape, and ratio of width and height of the codingunit.

For example, when the split shape mode index is ‘2’, the image decodingapparatus 100 may refer to a cell 2111 of a table 2110. The imagedecoding apparatus 100 may determine that the current coding unit has a63×32 size. Because the width of the current coding unit is longer thanthe height thereof, the image decoding apparatus 100 may refer to a rowindicated by ‘w>h’. “w>h” may denote that the current coding unit is ina horizontal direction. The image decoding apparatus 100 may determinethe information about the split shape mode to be a horizontal bi split.

The image decoding apparatus 100 may split a current coding unit basedon the information about the split shape mode. For example, when thecurrent coding unit has the 64×32 size and the split shape mode is thehorizontal bi split, the current coding unit may be split into twocoding units of 64×16 size.

Referring to the table 2120, the image decoding apparatus 100 and theimage encoding apparatus 2200 may adaptively use the bitstream based onthe split rule. The image decoding apparatus 100 and the image encodingapparatus 2200 may determine the number of bits used by the informationabout the split shape mode, based on the split rule. For example, whenthe number of candidate split shape modes is 5, the image decodingapparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200 generate theinformation about the split shape mode by using 4 bits. However, whenthe number of candidate split shape modes is 4, the information aboutthe split shape mode may be generated by using 3 bits. Because the imagedecoding apparatus 100 and the image encoding apparatus 2200 generatethe bitstream while excluding a block shape and a split shape mode notallowable according to the split rule, efficiency of bits may beincreased.

FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of an image encoding apparatusaccording to an embodiment.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 may include an encoder 2210 and abitstream generator 2220. The encoder 2210 may receive an input imageand encode the input image. The bitstream generator 2220 may output abitstream based on the encoded input image. Also, the image encodingapparatus 2200 may transmit the bitstream to the image decodingapparatus 100. Detailed operations of the image encoding apparatus 2200will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 23 .

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of an image encoding method according to anembodiment.

FIG. 23 relates to the image encoding method and includes contentsimilar to the image decoding method and apparatus described in FIGS. 3through 21 , and redundant descriptions thereof are omitted.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 determines a split rule of a codingunit (operation 2310). The image encoding apparatus 2200 obtains a binstring corresponding to a split shape mode for splitting a coding unitinto a plurality of coding units, based on at least one of the splitrule and information about a split shape mode of the coding unit(operation 2320). The image encoding apparatus 2200 generates abitstream by entropy-encoding the bin string corresponding to the splitshape mode (operation 2330). The image encoding apparatus 2200determines an allowable range of the length of long side of the codingunit, according to a ratio of the width and height of the coding unit,so as to determine the split rule. The image encoding apparatus 2200determines the allowable range of the length of long side of the codingunit, according to the split shape mode of the coding unit, so as todetermine the split rule.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 may use context-adaptive binaryarithmetic coding (CABAC) or context-adaptive variable length coding(CAVLC) to entropy-encode the bin string corresponding to the splitshape mode of the current coding unit. The image encoding apparatus 2200may determine a context model for the bin string, based on block shapeinformation of the current coding unit. Also, the image encodingapparatus 2200 may entropy-encode the bin string for the current codingunit, based on the context model. The image decoding apparatus 100 maydetermine the context model based on the block shape information of thecurrent coding unit. Also, the image decoding apparatus 100 may obtainthe bin string corresponding to the split shape mode of the currentcoding unit by entropy-encoding the bitstream based on the contextmodel.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 may generate the bitstream based onthe split rule. However, an embodiment is not limited thereto, and thesplit rule may be pre-determined between the image encoding apparatus2200 and the image decoding apparatus 100.

Also, the split shape mode may include at least one of a binary split, atri split, or a quad split.

Also, the image encoding apparatus 2200 may quad-split a largest codingunit into coding units of a first size. The image encoding apparatus2200 may generate information about a split shape mode for splitting thecoding unit of the first size into a plurality of coding units based onthe split rule.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 may determine the split rule for eachcomplexity level of an image. The image encoding apparatus 2200 maydetermine the complexity level by measuring complexity of the image. Theimage encoding apparatus 2200 may transmit the complexity level to theimage decoding apparatus 100 via the bitstream. The image decodingapparatus 100 may determine the split rule according to the complexitylevel. The split rule according to the complexity level may bepre-determined between the image encoding apparatus 2200 and the imagedecoding apparatus 100.

In order to obtain the bin string about the information about the splitshape mode, the image encoding apparatus 2200 may obtain a candidatesplit shape mode applicable to the current coding unit, based on thesplit rule. The image encoding apparatus 2200 may obtain the candidatesplit shape mode applicable to the current coding unit, by referring tothe table 1900 of FIG. 19 or the table 2000 of FIG. 20 .

For example, the current coding unit may have a size of 64×32. Referringto FIG. 19 , because the length of long side of the current coding unitis 64, the image encoding apparatus 2200 may use a binary split and atri split. Also, the image encoding apparatus 2200 may determine a caseof not splitting the current coding unit as a first candidate splitshape mode. The image encoding apparatus 2200 may determine a case ofbinary-splitting the current coding unit horizontally as a secondcandidate split shape mode. The image encoding apparatus 2200 maydetermine a case of binary-splitting the current coding unit verticallyas a third candidate split shape mode. Also, the image encodingapparatus 2200 may determine a case of tri-splitting the current codingunit vertically as a fourth candidate split shape mode.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 may obtain the information about thesplit shape mode of the current coding unit. The image encodingapparatus 2200 may encode the current coding unit according to varioussplit shape modes. The image encoding apparatus 2200 may select anoptimum split shape mode among the various split shape modes. Arate-distortion cost may be considered to select the optimum split shapemode. The image encoding apparatus 2200 may obtain the information aboutthe split shape mode, based on the optimum split shape mode.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 may obtain the information about thesplit shape mode based on at least one of the block shape information,the candidate split shape mode, and the split shape mode of the currentcoding unit.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 may determine a split shape modeindex, based on the block shape information of the coding unit and thesplit shape mode of the coding unit. For example, the image encodingapparatus 2200 may determine the split shape mode of the current codingunit to be a horizontal direction binary split. The image encodingapparatus 2200 may determine that the block shape information of thecurrent coding unit is a 64×32 size. Referring to the table 2110,because the width of the current coding unit is longer than the heightthereof, the image encoding apparatus 2200 may refer to the rowindicated by ‘w>h’. Also, because the split shape mode of the currentcoding unit is the horizontal direction binary split, the image encodingapparatus 2200 may determine a split shape mode index to be ‘2’.

The image encoding apparatus 2200 may obtain the information about thesplit shape mode, based on the split shape mode index and the number ofcandidate split shape modes. For example, as described above, the imageencoding apparatus 2200 may determine that the current coding unit mayhave four candidate split shape modes from the first candidate splitshape mode to the fourth candidate split shape mode. Accordingly, theimage encoding apparatus 2200 may refer to a column 2121 where thenumber of candidate split shape modes is ‘4’. The image decodingapparatus 100 may obtain ‘110’ as the information about the split shapemode, based on the split shape mode index ‘2’.

Hereinabove, various embodiments have been described. One of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that the disclosure may be implementedin a modified form without departing from the essential features of thedisclosure. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered indescriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope ofthe disclosure is set forth in the claims rather than the foregoingdescription, and all differences within the scope equivalent theretoshould be construed as being included in the disclosure.

Meanwhile, the above-described embodiments of the disclosure may bewritten as a program executable on a computer, and may be implemented ina general-purpose digital computer operating a program using acomputer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recordingmedium includes a storage medium such as a magnetic storage medium(e.g., ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, or the like) or an optical readingmedium (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD, or the like).

The invention claimed is:
 1. An image decoding apparatus comprising: areceiver configured to: obtain, from a bitstream, first informationindicating a split type of a coding unit between a quad split type and anon-quad split type including a tri split type, and when it isdetermined that the split type of the coding unit is the non-quad splittype using the first information, obtain, from the bitstream, secondinformation about a maximum size of a coding unit with a width and aheight ratio equal to 1:4; and a decoder configured to: determine themaximum size of the coding unit with the width and the height ratioequal to 1:4 using the second information, determine a minimum size ofthe coding unit with the width and the height ratio equal to 1:4 when itis determined that the coding unit is allowable to be split into threelower coding units using the maximum size of the coding unit with thewidth and height ratio equal to 1:4 and the minimum size of the codingunit with the width and the height ratio equal 1:4, split the codingunit into the three lower coding units and decode the three lower codingunits, and when it is determined that the split type of the coding unitis the quad split type using the first information, split the codingunit into four lower coding units and decode the four lower codingunits.
 2. An image encoding apparatus comprising: an encoder configuredto: determine a maximum size of a coding unit with a width and a heightratio equal to 1:4, determine a minimum size of the coding unit with thewidth and the height ratio equal to 1:4; determine a split type of thecoding unit between a quad split type and non-quad split type includinga tri split type, when it is determined that the split type of thecoding unit is the quad split type, split the coding unit into fourlower coding units and encode the four lower coding units, and when itis determined that the coding unit is allowable to be split into threelower coding units using the maximum size of the coding unit with thewidth and the height ratio equal to 1:4 and the minimum size of thecoding unit with the width and the height ratio equal to 1:4, split thecoding unit into the three lower coding units and encode the three lowercoding units, and a bitstream generator configured to: encode firstinformation to indicate the split type of the coding unit, and when itis determined that the split type of the coding unit is the non-quadsplit type, encode second information to indicate the maximum size ofthe coding unit with the width and the height ratio equal to 1:4.